MORE SCIFI AND SOME REALISTIC FICTION

This past week I've dipped into the science fiction world twice more. First from the Caudill 2013 nominee list is Dark Life by Kat Falls. In a future when ice pack melting has flooded much of the land area, people are beginning to live under the sea. So it is for Ty and his family. Ty's parents helped develop the underwater dwellings and sea farming techniques used in their colony. Now Ty is looking forward to getting his own place until the government steps in and removes its support of underwater colonies unless the notorious pirate Seablite Gang can be brought to justice. Ty meets feisty Topsider Gemma who is searching for her older brother. Together the teens battle pirates, government agents, and underwater monsters until the truth is revealed.

A different future world is in Time Riders by Alex Scarrow. Three teens snatched out of time before they could die in disasters become the newest team of time travelers commissioned to keep time on its course. Liam, Maddy, and Sal with their android bodyguard Bob soon find themselves in a frightening new world where Germany won World War II and the Nazis have annexed the United States. The teens must find the point of origin where time went off course and return everything back to normal. Before the teens can act, the future becomes a nuclear wasteland making their mission even harder. This thrilling time adventure will be available for checkout in the fall.

Ending on a realistic fiction note is Laurie Halse Anderson's Catalyst. Kate's only problem should be finding out if she is accepted into MIT, but problems seem to snowball for her. She has boyfriend issues, her minister father takes in a destitute, dysfunctional family after their home is destroyed by fire which includes Kate's nemesis, foul-mouthed Teri Litch, and MIT refuses her and she has no backup plans. Kate's reliance on science appears in the chapter titles which are all science terminology reflecting the action of the chapter. When death touches the story, Kate begins to find solutions to her problems in unlikely ways.