Savage Drift

May 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Niko and the other survivors of the Monument 14 have finally made it to a Canadian refugee camp where Niko hopes to be reunited with presumed-dead Josie. However, he and the group must survive a final set of obstacles in this fierce conclusion.

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2014
The title sounds like a 1970s bodice-ripper, but the "savage drift" here is a toxic cloud of the chemicals introduced in the previous two books (Monument 14, rev. 7/12; Monument 14: Sky on Fire, rev. 5/13) that have different effects on people, depending on their blood type. The teens and kids who took shelter in a Walmart-like store have mostly reunited in Canada, but Josie is still imprisoned in a facility housing the potentially violent Type Os. She and the group of kids she protects face constant danger and live in miserable conditions. When Niko realizes where Josie is, he sets off with Jake, Dean, and his pregnant-by-Jake girlfriend Astrid to rescue Josie. Chapters alternate between Josie's and Dean's perspectives, and Laybourne sustains the tension and the thrilling pace throughout. The two narrators mature as they survive multiple disasters, and their voices are clear and distinct. Maps on the front and back endpapers show the locations the teens cover in their travels, including the ominous medical testing facility where two of the characters wind up. Gritty and violent, this is a tale of endurance and tenderness, with a group of teens who will do whatever it takes to protect the people they love. susan dove lempke

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2015
The kids from the first two Monument 14 books have mostly reunited in Canada, but Josie is still imprisoned in a facility housing the potentially violent Type Os. Niko sets off with Jake, Dean, and his pregnant-by-Jake girlfriend Astrid to rescue Josie. Chapters alternate between Josie's and Dean's perspectives, and Laybourne sustains the tension and the thrilling pace throughout.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)