(2) YA Quinn's ordinary life is upended when his father, believed dead, reappears to deliver some unsettling news: Quinn isn't a fifteen-year-old boy at all, but a quantum intelligence living in a computer simulation until the moment he could become self-aware. This is a lot to take in, but given access to the internet, Quinn learns to enjoy flexing his awesome computing power. His creators continue his evolution by placing him in a seven-foot-tall robot body, but Quinn's frustration grows as his requests for greater freedom are met with delays, to the point where he sees no alternative but to sue for his independence. But will the courts agree that Quinn is a person? Vlahos (Morris finalist for The Scar Boys) crafts a sci-fi narrative reminiscent of Peter Dickinson's Eva (rev. 7/89) in the way it questions what it means to be an individual and self-aware. The contradictions of Quinn's existence--mighty intellect that can be "rebooted" at another's whim; synthesized neural transmitters sending data up the hierarchy of consciousness that nonetheless feel sadness and love--are housed in an unassuming, very-fifteen-year-old-boy personality that will win readers' empathy. As the plot uses natural developments and misunderstandings to bring out the humanity and pathos of Quinn's predicament, tension swells to an Asimovian finale that earns its catharsis of pity and terror.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

(2) YA Jared Stone--devoted husband and father--has an advanced brain tumor. Wanting to leave his family with financial security, he tries to sell the remainder of his life on eBay, then strikes a deal with a reality television producer. The third-person narrative shifts perspectives (including that of Jared's anthropomorphized tumor), and some are more successful than others. Nevertheless, the story is compelling, satirical, and unsettling.

Reviewer: Kazia Berkley-Cramer | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2017

(3) YA This equally compelling sequel to The Scar Boys uses an interview format to develop the characters; the bandmates look back on their glory days in the eighties when they tried to make sense of Johnny's accident and amputation, Cheyenne's pregnancy, and the complicated tangle of relationships that made the music come alive but nearly ripped the band apart.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(3) YA Harry has been considered a freak since, at age eight, he was badly burned after bullies tied him to a tree during a lightning storm. When he's befriended by popular Johnny, he never questions the unequal dynamics of the best-friendship--until their punk-rock band's tour changes everything. Eighteen-year-old Harry's recounting voice is at once earnest, sarcastic, and confused, which should ring true to teens.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay