Undertow by Michael Buckley

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

Undertow

by Michael Buckley

In this new Dystopian thriller, Coney Island has been transformed into a immigrant settlement for a new breed of creatures; the Alpha.  The Alpha arrived via the ocean and come in all shapes and sizes; scaly, sharp and slimy shapes and sizes.  Predictably, there are humans who have welcomed them, and some who have not.  It is this animosity that serves as the conflict in the book.

Basically, this is a civil rights story.  The Alpha have been living in the settlement for some time, and it's time for their children to go to school.  The Federal government is supportive of this integration, however the Governor of New York is decidedly not.

There is a rebel group of citizens calling themselves the Coney Island Nine who vocally, and physically protest any interaction between humans and the Alpha, and they are in full force the Monday that integration is to begin.

Enter Lyric Walker, typical high school student from the outside.  Lyric is asked to help the prince of the Alpha assimilate into high school life.  However, Lyric has a secret that threatens to tear apart her family.  Befriending the prince just might cost her more than her popularity.

But what Lyric and other government officials don't realize is that it is not the Alpha that they should be concerned about; there is something far more sinister in the ocean, and they are on their way.

Undertow is the first book in what promises to be a fast-paced series.  Fans of Dystopian fiction, science fiction and fantasy will enjoy this new series.  However, the parallels to our own civil rights movement and school integration history would make this an interesting book to pair with a non-fiction book or article on these subjects.

Ask the Dark by Henry Turner

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Ask the Dark

by Henry Turner

There is a dark house, windows covered in plastic.  In that house are boxes with old clothes and jewelry.  There are boys, boys who have gone missing.  Boys that are found, dead after having been tortured.  What do these things have in common?

Billy hasn't always been a good kid, in fact he used to get in trouble a lot.  But when his mother died, he made a promise to her that he would stop getting in trouble.  The problem was, the town had already made up their mind about Billy, and they had designated him the local bad boy.

So when Billy has evidence that might help figure out who is taking boys, he has to make sure that he has proof.  Told from Billy's point of view, this is his story of the events that lead to the rescue of the town Golden Boy and discovery of just what was going on in the dark house.  Spoiler alert:  it's not good!!!

Reading in Billy's small town vernacular can be frustrating at times, but his voice comes through.  This is a quick read that might appeal to reluctant readers, but more likely to those students who enjoy a good mystery.  Either way, I think it would be a good addition to a middle school library.