The Clone Codes

Publishers Weekly

Thirteen-year-old Leanna has run from slave catchers with Harriet Tubman thanks to a virtual reality history class. Yet like many people in the year 2170, she believes clones aren't human, and thus keeping them as slaves doesn't bother her. But Leanna's world is shaken when her mother and a close family friend are arrested as suspected traitors for wanting to give clones civil rights. And when a discovery turns her world upside down and she makes a friend who belongs to a group she believed to be nearly as bad as clones, Leanna discovers that saving herself and her mother means joining the fight for clone equality. But even being immersed in the oppressed culture does not lead to Leanna's instant conversion. The McKissacks (Days of Jubilee), working with their son John for the first time, portray a plugged-in 22nd-century America that is recognizably descended both from contemporary prejudices as well as a modern reliance on technology. The story is tight and fast-paced, yet makes room for historical parallels that are vivid without being preachy. An intriguing start to a planned trilogy. Ages 9–12. (Feb.)

School Library Journal

Gr 5–8—A clunky, didactic science-fiction allegory. Leanna, 13, is studying the Underground Railroad. African slavery is ancient history in this America of 2170, but a new group is enslaved: clones. Leanna gives little thought to their status until her mother is suddenly arrested for ties to The Liberty Bell, a secret clone-liberation organization. Shaken, disbelieving, and afraid for her mother's life at the hands of cruel government captors, the teen asks her mother's friend for help. Using biographs—human replicas similar to holograms—Dr. Ayala introduces past and present figures entrusted with The Liberty Bell's work: Benjamin Franklin, Justice John Marshall Harlan, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Leanna's grandfather, Dr. David Montgomery. Leanna learns the importance of their work as well as a dangerous secret about her own identity. Some aspects of the plot are predictable and poorly drawn: few readers will be surprised when the "unnamed girl from 2170" whom Ben Franklin predicts will join the ranks of The Liberty Bell's Custodians is revealed to be the protagonist. Similarly, too many references to the distant past—such as Leanna describing her disheveled mother looking "like old photos of twentieth-century drug addicts"—prevent the futuristic setting from coming to life. Still, the fast pace, short chapters, and slim page count will make this volume attractive to reluctant readers, and the obvious curriculum tie-ins will appeal to teachers.—Megan Honig, New York Public Library

Kirkus Reviews

It is the year 2170, and Leanna, daughter of a respected child psychologist, is a typical 13-year-old interested in friends and sports. She is enrolled in All-Virtual School, where she experiences such historical events as an escape with Harriet Tubman. This becomes real when her mother is arrested for activism on behalf of the clones who serve as slave labor for humans. Leanna follows her mother's order to flee the clutches of her mother's jailers. While on the run, a message reveals that her mother's interest in clones was more than academic: Leanna is herself a clone and in danger should that fact be discovered. With the help of others sympathetic to their cause, Leanna avoids detection while dealing with facts about her identity that send her reeling. Some of the parallels to American slavery and racism are obvious; others are clever, such as the depiction of a secondary character, Houston, a closeted cyborg (another oppressed minority) who happens to be three-fifths human. This is fast-paced adventure with a provocative exploration of civil rights and identity. (Science fiction. 12 & up)