Idols by Margaret Stohl - ESSENTIAL

Stohl, Margaret Idols, 415 p. Little, Brown, 2014.  $19.  Violence: PG (extensive but bloodless); Language:  PG (9 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G.  

The four Icon children have taken down one Icon, but the world in no more free than it was and they are in much more danger personally.  The group is on the run with Fortis, headed towards a safe haven in the Utah mountains when Dol makes contact with a fifth Icon child.  The child is on the other side of the world.  Will the group put themselves at even more risk, expose themselves in order to find this child?   The action is separated by flashbacks to the times before the Icons arrived – when first contact was made with the computer mind that was directed to find a place for another world’s species to inhabit.  

While this book does the stereotypical role of being a bridge between book 1 and 3, it adds some a heavy dose of necessary back story.  Stohl writes betrayal masterfully, heart-wrenchingly.  I was left stunned and anxious at the end.  I think that is exactly what she wanted.  

MS, HS – ESSENTIAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher.