Aftershock

July 1, 2023
A natural disaster brings half sisters together in British Columbia. It's the last day of 10th grade for Amy when an earthquake hits, shattering windows and collapsing buildings. Her mother is in Japan for business, and her father is working in Vancouver, which is cut off from their small town by freeway damage, but Amy's estranged 17-year-old half sister, Mara, comes to her school to get her. The girls can't reach any of their parents, and since Mara's mom's house has been destroyed, they set off for Amy's but find that it's also uninhabitable. The girls set off on foot with backpacks of emergency supplies, but they encounter aftershocks and heavy rain, among other ordeals. They are welcomed and fed at a Sikh temple, but soon armed soldiers take away all the unaccompanied minors, Amy and Mara included. Feeling something is wrong, they manage to escape. Although the sisters' complex family situation offers an intriguing premise, the character development is too light; Amy states that the earthquake has changed her, but readers don't see enough of her personality before her ordeal to understand how she's different. The nonstop action will draw in the intended audience of reluctant readers, but the abrupt ending doesn't offer any closure. Main characters read white; there is ethnic diversity in the supporting cast. An underdeveloped blend of relationship-driven novel and adventure story. (map) (Fiction. 12-18)

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September 1, 2023

Gr 6 Up-A teen and her half sister seek their parents after a destructive earthquake in this hi-lo novel. Amy is at her private school when a dangerous earthquake hits. With her father at work in the city and her mother on a business trip overseas, Amy is about to go home with a teacher when her estranged half-sister, Mara, comes to find her. The girls return through the debris to find their homes unlivable and decide to walk to the city to find their father and Mara's mother. They encounter dangerous situations, such as landslides, intimidating strangers, and, of course, aftershocks on their journey. One of the methods used to make this title more accessible is that it is written almost completely in first-person present tense, which may feel unusual to more experienced readers but could be helpful for emerging readers. The relationship between Amy and Mara is well drawn, and the girls grow closer by relying on each other to survive amid exciting action sequences. Survival stories are popular among middle school students, and this book would be a good choice to hand to readers who haven't developed the skills yet for novels like Hatchet. It is written for teen readers reading under a second grade level. VERDICT A useful title for older emerging readers.-Jeri Murphy

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