Mayfly by Jeff Sweat - OPTIONAL

Mayfly by Jeff Sweat, 355 pages.  Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan), 2018.  $18.

Language: R (53 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG-13 (mild sex talk); Violence: PG-13 (fighting, cannibalism mentioned)

BUYING RECOMMENDATION: MS, HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Jemma and others in the Holy Wood just barely manage to keep a living going.  But in a world where you are going to die when you turn 17, and sometimes earlier, all life is desperate.  AT 15 Jenna is supposed to become a Mama - doing her part to produce a new generation.  But if Jemma doesn’t escape, then Apple, the best friend, the boy she is just beginning to realize that she likes in a different way than just “rolling” will die.Together Jemma, Apple, Lady, Pico, the refugee from the Malibus, and even the strange Palo they find themselves saddled with, must journey across hostile territories.  Jemma knows there are answers out there -- somewhere.  Maybe maybe a cure to The End. 

Jemma and her life are compelling to read.  Having grown up in LA, I loved reading Sweat’s changes to familiar place names and it was heart-wrenching to see the lives of the children as they tried to hold life together even in the face of inevitable death.  Students who like the Gone series by Michael Grant will like this.

I’d replay some of the brilliant dialogue for you, but I don’t want to give a single thing away.  I have just one gripe -- if I love your book enough, I am going to want and welcome a sequel when it appears.  There is no reason to hit me on the head with end action that says “Hey -- there’s gonna be a sequel here!”  Let me enjoy this book, first, in all its glory.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS