Publishers Weekly
Hughes’s grim tale is set on a largely depopulated Earth devastated by global warming. Thirteen-year-old Eli Papadopoulos lives in the domed city of Providence, a supposed consumerist utopia. His family, which founded InfiniCorp (motto: “Don’t worry! InfiniCorp is taking care of everything!”), runs many such havens, and Eli has long accepted the official line that the world is cooling down and returning to normal. Temperatures continue to rise, however, and the dome’s virtual reality environment is malfunctioning. Eli is soon contacted by “Foggers,” environmental activists who oppose InfiniCorp’s policies; when he begins to doubt everything he’s been raised to believe, he is sent to a remote re-education facility. Although Eli escapes, this first volume in the Greenhouse Chronicles leaves his fate to future installments. Hughes (Lemonade Mouth) is an earnest writer, and while his story doesn’t lack action, Eli’s Matrix-style awakening (“What if you disentangled the truth only to discover that your whole life has been a sham?” he’s asked) and the heavy-handed portrayal of his complacent society make it feel preachy. An appendix and reading list on global warming are included. Ages 12-up. (Aug.)
Children's Literature
- Lois Rubin Gross
So many dystopias, so little time left for the world as we know it! At least that seems to be the theme running through an enormous number of middle reader and YA books. In Eli Papadopolos' world, a pandemic has wiped out the majority of the population and ecological catastrophe has forced the remaining people to move into domed cities run by Eli's family. Infinicorp, a Big Brother-like organization, controls the climate but also the thoughts and emotions of the population. Eli, favored by his powerful grandfather but a bit of a dreamer, finds an ancient copy of Alice in Wonderland and loses himself in the fantasy of parallel worlds. Little does he know that he is being led into subversion and that his errant thoughts will chart his course to a "reeducation" center run by his evil cousin, Spider. Only the infallible loyalty of his genetically altered pet, a mongoose named Marilyn, saves him from total mind destruction. The many influences of other writers—Carroll, Huxley, Orwell, and Lowry to name only four—and the similarities to movies such as Wall-E and A.I. are obvious throughout the book. However, Hughes should be credited for a fast-paced, action-driven story that will snare readers into its pessimistic ending. Do be aware that Eli's mind torture is graphic. Villainous family members come as unexpected surprises and with a mongoose smarter than Rikki Tikki Tavi, a fight with a deadly snake is inevitable. The author's epilogue discusses the ecological disasters brewing in our imprudent world. This is a page turner that exploits current events and may excite discussion on how we can reverse climate change before we, like Eli, have only domed cities as options. Reviewer: Lois Rubin Gross
School Library Journal
Gr 6–10—In this first installment of a planned series, 13-year-old Eli lives in a postapocalyptic domed city run by InfiniCorp. The world has been suffering from global warming, but the corporation insists there is no reason to worry. It uses the power of the CloudNet to distract its citizens from signs that all is not as it should be. Because Eli is one of the few who can resist the CloudNet's power, he is accused of being a "Fogger" (those who are accused of anti-InfiniCorp sentiments) and is sent to a reeducation facility where he is imprisoned and forced to work assembling T-shirts. He meets Tabitha, who is the only other slave who can fight the power of the CloudNet. Together they plot to escape. Taut pacing and interesting characters are offset by flawed world building. A map does add visual clarification to settings that aren't fully fleshed out in the text (though, oddly, the location of the re-education facility is not indicated). Eli's microchip-implanted pet mongoose functions as a deus ex machina, another symptom of sloppy world building. While this is a decent example of dystopian literature, it is not likely to win over those who aren't already enthusiastic readers of the genre.—Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH
