Teen Fiction - Adventure & Survival, Teen Fiction - Science Fiction

The Kiln

Name: The Kiln
Author: Jennifer Armstrong, Nancy Butcher
ISBN: 9780060080501

by Jennifer Armstrong, Nancy Butcher

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Overview

They are not alone.

After most of the world's population was wiped out by a deadly plague five years ago, this small group of children formed a family. They've taken care of each other, scavenging food from deserted supermarkets, fighting off the wild animals that prowl soccer fields and schools. The children thought they were the only ones left.

Then they came across the Keepers, the first Grown-ups they'd seen for years, living in an abandoned shopping mall. The Keepers offered fresh food, clean beds, and security. But what looked like safety was instead the worst danger the family had yet faced.

Now the family is once again on the road. But if they want to reach the end of their journey, if they want to solve the mystery of what happened and who is to blame, they must head straight into danger — to Pisgah, the heart of the Keepers' power.

In this stunning conclusion to the Fire-us Trilogy, Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butcher return to the post-apocalyptic world they created in The Kindling and The Keepers of the Flame, as the family discovers the dark secret that changed their world forever.

About the Author

Jennifer Armstrong is an award-winning author, best known for her works of historical fiction, which include Steal Away, The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan, and Mary Mehan Awake.

After a virus destroys most of the world's adult popoulation, a band of children travels in search of an explanation for the dark mystery that forms the heart of their existence.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

The Fire-us Trilogy, a post-apocalyptic action-adventure about a group of children who survive a virus that kills off most of the world's adults, reaches its conclusion in The Kiln by Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butcher. Dark secrets come to light, exposing villains and revealing true heroes. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

After escaping the Keepers, the group of children travel until they find a settlement of older adults. There, they discover that the disease that wiped out most of the population only affected people past puberty and before menopause. Their quest for the president leads them back to the Keepers and many shocking discoveries. This book is confusing on many levels. Some of the children's names (Mommy and Teacher, for example) evoke images other than young people, so an explanation of how the children came by those names would have been welcome. This explanation probably lies in the previous books, but the lack of it in this book makes for a confusing read. The timeline is also puzzling: why would some of the children remember the president speaking on TV, and yet not know that sayings like "Just Do It" are advertisements and not great spiritual truths or clues to the mystery of the "Fire-us?" This book may make sense when read after the others in the trilogy, but as a stand-alone story, it is extremely confusing. 2003, HarperCollins, Ages 10 up.
— Amie Rose Rotruck

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-In book three of the trilogy, Angerman, Mommy, Teacher, and the other members of the makeshift family have found their way to The Woods, a retirement community filled with elderly women who somehow managed to survive the virus that killed most of the adults in the world. However, the youngsters' troubles and travels are not over yet. As Mommy deals with the bewildering changes that come with puberty, Angerman grows increasingly agitated, and insists on continuing the effort to find the President of the United States. Traveling in solar-powered golf carts, he and the other kids manage to find the president on Pisgah Island-and he turns out to be the Supreme Leader of the Crossroads enclave. He also turns out to be related to more than one of the children, and an over-the-top, power-hungry madman to boot. One family member makes the supreme sacrifice to save what's left of the world in an explosive finale. Armstrong and Butcher have crafted a chillingly realistic picture of events that unfortunately isn't that hard to imagine, and have created believable characters who act in believable ways. A strong finish to an engrossing and disturbing series set in the near future.-Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

An exciting if thin conclusion to the Fire-us trilogy. The headlong flight that concludes The Keepers of the Flame (2002) has led the children to "grandmother's house"-also known as The Woods: A Golf-Centered Retirement Community. There, a group of inexplicably surviving elderly women thrives, with a herd of goats and a fleet of solar-powered golf carts. Mommy, Hunter, Teacher, Angerman, and Cory are understandably wary after their near-escape from the deranged Keepers. But the grandmas seem sincerely kind, if occasionally senile. Though they have found a comfortable and protected place to be, the children know they must finish their quest to find President and learn the reason for the Fire-us plague. In a drama-filled journey, the children learn answers to questions that have worried them since they began. What was the reason for the plague? Why did they (and the grandmas) survive? And what is wrong with Angerman? Even Angerman's name is discovered, in a revelation of his history that resolves his traumas and leaves him sane. This adventure is jam-packed with thrills, narrow escapes, and grief, and the answers will satisfy fans. But the evil responsible for the near-destruction of life on earth (as well as a few more personal and gruesome horrors) should be frightening or hateful. Since this trilogy has endowed only the protagonists with any character depth, the villains are mere stage dressing. Suspense and resolution, but not much more. (Fiction. 11-13)