The Kindling

KLIATT

Almost five years ago, back in 2002, a terrible virus (Fire-us) swept through the population and swiftly killed almost everyone. The empty streets are now littered with abandoned cars and skeletons. In the midst of this devastation, a small group of teenagers and children have found each other and banded together in a Florida town to help each other survive. Mommy cares for the littlest ones, Teddy Bear, Baby, and Doll; Teacher tries to pass on what she remembers of the Before Time; and Hunter scavenges for food and supplies, assisted by his fierce younger brother, Action Figure. Alligators, panthers, and "horrocanes" all threaten the makeshift family, and they have just about picked the town clean. Then a stranger comes to the door: a teenager who calls himself Anchorman, prone to long, wild rants that refer to the apocalypse, whom they quickly term Angerman instead. Two needy feral children turn up, too. Angerman says that he intends to travel all the way to Washington, DC, to find the president, and the others decide to come too, even though Mommy must overcome her devastating agoraphobia. Danger lurks at every turn as they set off by bike and then by boat. This is a riveting, powerful tale, with underpinnings of religion (the town they're in is called Lazarus; Teacher circles the words "second" and "coming" in the book she keeps). The strange near-future post-apocalypse setting is well imagined, and the atmosphere of constant menace keeps the tension level high. Once readers get into this (it takes a little while to understand what the situation is) they won't want to put it down. A good choice for reluctant readers. It ends on a cliffhanger; I can't wait for the secondinstallment. (Fire-us Trilogy, Bk. 1) Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2002, HarperCollins, 224p., $15.89. Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Paula Rohrlick; KLIATT SOURCE: KLIATT, March 2002 (Vol. 36, No. 2)

VOYA

Five years ago, in 2002, most of the world's population died of a deadly virus. Mommy, Hunter, and Teacher, now in their mid-teens, were among the few survivors. Emotionally scarred and not quite sane, they have created a community of sorts in the small Florida town of Lazarus, devoting themselves to caring for the little ones, Teddy Bear, Baby, Action Figure, and Doll. They live frugally on a gradually depleted stock of canned goods, unable to leave because of Mommy's crippling agoraphobia and Hunter's poor eyesight. Then a new boy shows up in town. Apparently a victim of multiple personality disorder, he calls himself Anchorman or sometimes Angerman. He drags with him an old picture frame, from within which he periodically delivers the news, and a department store dummy, Bad Guy, into which he channels all of his hostilities. Angerman's appearance precipitates a crisis, and the children soon find themselves on the road, dodging alligators and panthers, searching for a dimly remembered leader named President in his distant home of Washington. This first volume of the Fire-us trilogy takes the young survivors across Florida to the ruins of Jacksonville. Whether they actually will reach Washington, D.C., is anyone's guess. Armstrong and Butcher's grim, well-written tale moves swiftly and packs an emotional wallop. The various manifestations of posttraumatic stress disorder and monomania that the youth exhibit are somewhat one-dimensional but nonetheless poignant. This powerful and quite successful post
— Michael Levy

From The Critics

The authors imagine what life would be like in the adult-less environment of Lazarus, Florida, after the Fire-us virus has killed the adults in 2002. Set five years later, the book reveals how a group of young adults and children have survived. They have taken on new names because their memories of the before time no longer exist. Mommy, Hunter, Teacher, Action Figure, Teddy Bear, Baby, and Doll don't live "happily ever after," but in a Lord of the Flies setting, functioning with anxiety. Enter Anchorman, who becomes Angerman, and his mannequin Bad Guy, who intends to go to Washington to find the President. Two wild kids emerge, Kitty and Puppy. The group sets off with the goal of the Capitol. On page 223, "kindling is lit," and the book ends, as do many chapters, with a tease to read what follows. The story is drawn out and demands patience. Although the authors have enviable credentials, they seem to have designed a pattern that demands tighter control than they are willing to maintain in this book. The reading is an arduous path to discussing the possibilities the book presents. 2002, HarperCollins Children's Books, 224 pp.,
— Len DeAngelis

School Library Journal

Gr 5-9-In this first installment of a post-apocalyptic trilogy, a virus ("fire-us") has wiped out the adult population. After five years on their own in a small Florida town, a small group of children, who believe themselves to be the only survivors, have mostly forgotten their past lives and have taken on roles of the family. Mommy, Teacher, and Hunter provide for Teddy Bear, Action Figure, Baby, and Doll. The arrival of a crazed teenage boy changes the group dynamics and Angerman, as he is dubbed, convinces the youngsters to leave their familiar environs where food is becoming scarce and to go on a quest to Washington, DC, to find the President. Armstrong and Butcher tell a fascinating story of the near future. The character development takes an interesting path; the individuals begin as literal stereotypes, and, as the plot unfolds, the authors reveal the causes and motivations behind the self-assumed roles. The perspectives rotate among the older children, giving gradual clues as to the tragedy that left them on their own. These slow revelations entice readers along and the cliff-hanger ending will leave them interested to see what happens next.-Trish Anderson, Pinkerton Elementary School, Coppell, TX Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Offering a cheerless, if thought-provoking, vision of a post-apocalyptic near-future, Armstrong and Butcher open this projected trilogy by sending a large cast of disturbed or outright deranged young people on a quixotic quest. Five years after the "fire-us," a viral plague, has seemingly wiped out every adult, Teacher, Hunter, Mother, and four younger dependents have lost their original names and all but fragmentary memories of their former lives in the struggle to survive. Enter Angerman, a schizoid teenager who fits right in despite (or because of) his frightening habit of savagely abusing a department-store mannequin he carries with him everywhere. When he announces that he's marching on Washington to demand some Answers, the seven, plus two newly captured feral children, tag along, traveling north past decayed, deserted towns and roadside attractions to a cliffhanger ending on a beach near Jacksonville. Though all of these characters are dysfunctional—and some wouldn't be out of place in Lord of the Flies—this is less a remake of that classic than a riposte. Readers who can see past the cast's array of bizarre quirks and psychic scars will find that the older members of the group are fundamentally decent sorts, more concerned with keeping their younger companions safe and happy than with looking out for themselves. Still, the story is going to have to speed up—and lighten up—to keep readers engaged through two more installments. (Fiction. 11-13)