The Islands at the End of the World by Austin Aslan - ADVISABLE

Aslan, Austin The Islands at the End of the World, 358 p. Wendy Lamb (Random House), 2014.  $18.  Language: PG (24 swears, 0 ‘f’); Violence: PG-13 (dead bodies, gunshots, nothing graphic); Mature Content: G.  

Leilani and her father have gone to Oahu from the Big Island so that Leilani can try a new treatment for her epilepsy.  Over night, however, the world changes as all forms of electrical devices start failing.  Now The father and daughter are stuck far from home in a world that is becoming more hostile every day and disease is running through the population.  Even if they manage to escape the holding camp they have been confined in, very few boats are running and it is a long paddle home through now hostile waters.  Leilani may hold the key to the world’s problem, but only if she can make it home.

Don’t dismiss this is “another” apocalyptic novel.  I love having a book about that a place that really exists and being on a Pacific Island adds a culture that rarely makes the mainstream.  The book is tense and the situation is grim - almost over the top in description, but it holds back just enough.  In fact, the only objection I have is that he calls my favorite island treat “ice shave”, when, as a former BYU-Hawaii grad, I have called it “shave ice” all of my days.  

MS - OPTIONAL; HS - ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher