Adaptation

Publishers Weekly

After birds begin to fall dead from the sky and cause planes to crash across North America, mayhem erupts, and rising high school senior Reese Holloway and her debate partner, David, are forced to drive from Phoenix to San Francisco after all aircraft are grounded. Their rental car crashes near the infamous Area 51, and they wake up almost a month later in a mysterious government hospital, with no idea what happened. After being forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement, they are returned home to their worried parents. Soon, both teenagers realize they’ve changed in frightening and strange ways, landing them in the middle of a massive government cover-up. Focusing on Reese’s experience, this novel takes off like a shot, but slows a bit once Reese meets Amber, a pink-haired skateboarder who’s new to town. From there, the plot fluctuates between the romance between Reese and Amber and an action-packed SF thriller. Lo’s (Huntress) writing sparkles throughout, Reese’s efforts at self-acceptance after the accident are engaging, and the exciting ending will leave readers ready for the sequel. Ages 15–up. Agent: Laura Langlie Agency. (Sept.)

VOYA - Paula Willey

Crash your car miles from nowhere on Nevada's Route 375, aka Extraterrestrial Highway, after a series of strange events have led to airplane crashes and highway closures, and what do you expect? Recover from life-threatening injuries only to be handed a nondisclosure agreement and be escorted home by two agents in black suits. Oh yeah, this cannot be good. What happened to debate partners Reese and David in the month following inexplicable bird attacks that shut down the nation's air traffic? How have they recuperated so quickly from their crash? And what is with the strange vertigo that Reese feels whenever she touches David, or her mom, or even total strangers? Then there is the free-spirited, pink-haired girl to whom Reese is irresistibly attracted. Lo sets up an intriguing situation for her appealing, believable characters and does a particularly nice job communicating Reese's discomfort as the unusual things she experiences and observes after she attempts to resume her normal life in San Francisco grate against everything she knows. The book loses some steam in the last third, as other characters drop away and we are back to just Reese and David, but by then it is too late for the reader. How is it going to end? Suspenseful, girl-powered, contemporary science fiction full of realistically diverse characters making realistic contemporary use of technology—plus hot kissing—make this book hard to resist. Reviewer: Paula Willey

Kirkus Reviews

Crashed planes, government coverups and smart teens unexpectedly mixed up in big things: science fiction for today's cynical readers indeed. After multiple horrific plane crashes caused by bird strikes, all flights are grounded. Riots break out. Reese and David, traveling home after a disastrous debate tournament, are in a near-fatal car accident near a mysterious government facility. The tension is relentless until the teens make it safely back to San Francisco, at which point romantic entanglements (Reese falls for Amber, but maybe she likes David too) detract from the strange abilities Reese and David are developing and the conspiracies they begin to unravel (with lots of men in black after them). And then things get crazier. Lo's dialogue rings true, and smart-but-sometimes-dumb Reese, from whose perspective the action unfolds, is an appealing main character aside from her romantic dithering. Too-good-to-be-true love interest Amber satisfyingly proves to indeed be too good to be true, although stalwart David, compared at one point to Captain America, remains ridiculously heroic and together throughout. Lo manages a diverse cast (Asian-American smart stud; gay conspiracy nut; debate nerd) without ever falling into stereotypes, but unfortunately, the same is not always true of the plot. Despite the weaker second half, slot this on the shelf between Cory Doctorow's Little Brother and The X-Files. (Science fiction/thriller. 13 & up)

Booklist

"[Adaptation] would do the X-Files proud..."

BCCB

"Lo invokes a paranoid X-Files sensibility here, layering conspiracy atop conspiracy and balancing ambitious twists with nuanced relationships that are ultimately as important to the sci-fi plotting as they are to the character development."

Horn Book

Praise for Adaptation:
A CBC Best Children's Books of 2013 selectionA 2013 Top Ten Rainbow Project Book
"Absolutely compelling...the reader is tugged along, just as confused and naively hopeful as Reese herself. A sharp twist at the climax makes everything that happened before an even more satisfying puzzle to unravel."

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up—Following their loss in the national debate championship, Reese Holloway and David Li are in the Phoenix airport awaiting their flight home to San Francisco when all flights across the U.S. are canceled due to a series of plane crashes caused by flocks of birds. While they are trying to drive home, their coach, Mr. Chapman, is shot and killed and the teens flee, only to crash in the middle of the Nevada desert. They awake nearly a month later and find themselves in a secret facility. Reese and David are told that they have received experimental medical treatments and that they must sign confidentiality agreements before they can return to their families. Reese discovers that she heals incredibly quickly and that she has strange dreams and sensory experiences. Given the location of their crash, their friend from back home wonders if the two may have been treated at Area 51. Before Reese can process any of this, she meets and finds herself falling in love with Amber Gray. This lesbian relationship seems to come out of the blue for both Reese and readers, but Amber's significance is later revealed. Lo pens a near future science-fiction thriller with a romance component. Although readers may find some plot points predictable, the alien-conspiracy theory element and the fast pacing ought to draw in many readers.—Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI