Westerfield, Scott. Horizon.

Westerfield, Scott. Horizon. Scholastic Press   2017 241p $14.99  Hardback  ISBN 978-0-545-91677-6   ms  Fantasy  VG-BN     

When their plane crashes in the Arctic, a group of teenagers going to a robotics convention find themselves among the few survivors, but they are in a supernatural jungle.  The vegetation and animals are weird.  From razor-beaked birds to carnivorous vines to a mysterious predator that is not seen, this is no ordinary jungle.  The teens use their knowledge to begin to make sense of their situation and how to operate a device they find that can control gravity.  They form a plan to find out what is going on, and the book ends.  Readers will find it excruciating to wait for the next installment.

The writing is excellent, typical of the author.  But the abrupt ending without a very satisfying conclusion is annoying.  The publisher references an online game. Checking the web pages, readers can sign on and play the game as one of the characters in the story.  Information about the author and chat groups are available.  It looks like three titles in the series are now written. Seeing who the author is, this book will fly off the shelves.  However, it would be better to wait until more titles in the series are published, so readers can continue the story without interruption.

Summary: A plane crash in the Arctic leaves teenage survivors fighting for their lives in a supernatural jungle.  Associated with a game, this is the start of a survival series.  Readers may be disappointed that the story stops in the middle.  Middle school.

Survival-Fiction                                            --Joan Theal

Westerfield, Scott, Margo Langan, and Deborah Biancotti. Zeroes: Every Power Has a Price.

Westerfield, Scott, Margo Langan, and Deborah Biancotti.  Zeroes: Every Power Has a Price.  Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse  2015  560p  $19.99  ISBN 978-1-4814-4336-4  ms/hs  Fantasy  E-BN 

This title may be the start of a new series.  Each main character has some sort of superpower.  Since they were born in 2000, they call themselves the Zeroes. One can crash electronic devices with her mind, but they also cause her physical pain when they are turned on.  Another can collect the emotions from a crowd and bend them in either a positive or negative direction.  There is the boy who has trouble controlling the Voice that will have him saying just the right thing to do whatever he really wants to achieve.  The leader draws people together toward his will, and the last can refocus the attention of people around him so that they forget they ever saw him, letting him seem to disappear.

These teens have been practicing their skills to improve their control.  The one with the Voice accidentally acquires a bag of cash from drug dealers.  While he is waiting in line to deposit it at the bank, bank robbers come in.  He uses the Voice to turn one robber against the other two.  The others kill each other as the police arrive.  At the police station, the rest of the team comes to rescue him.  Crashing most of the electronics releases all the prisoners.  The Zeroes hide but also try to set things right.  They find they do have to work together to really accomplish something good.

Readers will be drawn into the lives of these characters.  The action is continual, making for an exciting read.  Westerfield knows how to hold middle school readers.  This is a must have purchase.

Summary: This is a new title or possibly the start of a new series.  Each teenage character born in the year 2000 has a superpower.  They learn to work together to accomplish good works. 

Superpowers-Fiction                 --Joan Theal, Joan