Friday, November 20, 2015

Undertow by Michael Buckley


Undertow
Author: Michael Buckley
Lexile: 730
Length: 384 Pages
Genre: Fantasy/Dystopia
Awards: None
Reading Ram Star Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

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Lyric Walker's world has just been turned upside down. The cause, fish people, otherwise known as the Alpha. A new species has come out of the ocean to meet the humans. They have started interacting with humans in Lyric's small hometown of Coney Island, NY, and almost nobody is pleased. The Alpha children have come to her school to integrate with the humans. Riots and protests against the Alpha are now very common, and almost the entire military has come to protect the 6 Alpha kids coming to her school. The streets of her small town are now abundant with criminals and gangs. Her town is like a different planet now. The U.S. is trying to make it work in the town, with few positive results. Lyric starts going to school with the Alpha, and after the new principal makes a shocking discovery about her, she is in serious trouble. She has been forced by the principal to befriend the Alpha prince, but it will be no easy task. Their culture is very different from her own, and the other kids at school shun her, except for her 2 best friends. But she is still forced to do it, otherwise, the principal will alert the authorities about her family, and everything and everyone she loves will be taken from her. But at the same time, she can't help but love the prince. And she ends up helping their culture from something much, much more dangerous than the Alpha could ever be.
I loved this book so much! It was a very creative idea by Michael Buckley, author of the N.E.R.D.S. series, and the Sisters Grimm series. It has never been thought of before, and I think Michael Buckley pulled it off well. Lyric seems like a very relatable character, despite the fact that she is popular, and her dad is a cop. She's like a regular kid with regular parents, sort of. But she does have a secret. A very important secret. And when she becomes real friends with the Alpha prince, it was all too perfect. At least lots of stuff went wrong because of it, which balanced it out. This book was slightly inappropriate, but not insanely so. I would not recommend this book to children who are not mature. Maybe around sixth grade and up? If you think you are fairly mature, you should really try this book out in your free time!

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