Overview
In fifteen-year-old Adrian Havoc’s world, Homestate rules every aspect of society: identity cards need to be carried at all times, evolution is a forbidden topic of discussion, and religious education is enforced in daily “rapture” doses. If life weren’t hard enough, now come the threats that the end of the world—SHIFT—is quickly approaching. But Adrian refuses to accept things as they are. He sets out for the toxic Deadlands on a trip that may very well alter the course of the universe.
In this powerful, thought-provoking and by turns humorous novel, Charlotte Agell uncovers the painful consequences of war and uncertain governments in an imagined—yet disturbingly realistic—world.
Editorials
KLIATT -
Adrian and his family live in a world completely foreign yet imaginable. Shift explores a reality where Homestate agents patrol to check identification, where the government seizes families when they don't comply, and where the environment has been irrevocably damaged by bombs. This is the United Christian States, and Adrian's father has gone missing after a trip to the moon; his mother is deeply involved in a government plot as a scientist. Adrian joins forces with a zookeeper to free their favorite animal, a penguin called Mr. BabyGuy, to bring him past the Deadlands, where the nuclear bombs hit, to the supposedly recovering land of Maine. On this journey, Adrian encounters his first stirrings of feeling that God might be more than just a judgmental puppet of the government. The plot, with a tenacious protagonist in Adrian, will interest YA readers. While some of the concepts of religious beliefs and an oppressive government may be heavy for younger teens, the story encourages readers to explore their own opinions. Reviewer: Aimee ColeChildren's Literature -
In the spirit of such well-known classics as George Orwell's 1984, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, and Lois Lowry's The Giver comes another futuristic, altered-reality story of resistance to conformity and control and pursuit of a free thinking world. Adrian Havoc is a teenage boy whose world has changed drastically around him since he was a child. When a massive disaster leaves part of the U.S. in ruins, the government is taken over by Homestate, an organization that uses religion to control its citizens, not just to comfort. Adrian has reason to believe that his mother may be in danger due to her involvement with Homestate, and sets off, with the help of a friend and his very wise-for-her-age little sister, to find the truth, and possibly change the future of the entire country for the better. Though the concept of rebellion against a manipulative, controlling government is not unique, Agell manages to make the concept her own with intriguing visuals and a beautiful, straightforward writing style that provokes thought and flows naturally. A warning of what could happen if the lines between church and state continue to blur over time, the message of this book is clear, and the conclusion is satisfying. This is a story of teenage emotion, overpowering politics, and the strength it takes to rebel against the norm, which could be just as easily be integrated into high school classrooms on varying subjects as it could be found on any young adult's bookshelf at home. Reviewer: Carly ReaganSchool Library Journal
Gr 7-9
Adrian Havoc, 15, lives in an urban hotbox in the partially post-nuclear United Christian States, where the end of the world is nigh. He meets Lenora, a beautiful zookeeper on a mission to deliver a favorite penguin to colder waters. Adrian's semi-savant, semi-psychic little sister, Shriek, joins them on a trip through the radiated Deadlands to Maine, where the Havocs had a cabin. There they discover Adrian's long-missing father, a member of a Resistance force formed to combat an evil plot to fake the end of the world. Adrian is an engaging, earnest, and lovable character who finds humor in the most dire of circumstances. The dialogue and plot flow are fast paced and natural. The plot itself, unfortunately, is uninspired and confusing. There are too many coincidences, and Shriek, though nicely drawn and very charming, is the stock touched genius-like ET with freckles. With less than universal annihilation on the line, the tension never really builds, and the mood never seems appropriately desperate. The young people emerge from the toxic Deadlands unscathed with only a van to protect them, and everyone's still well fed despite the poisoned agriculture. Give fans of the genre Susan Beth Pfeffer's catastrophe novels instead.-Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library