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Grant, Michael
20 Reviews
(3)
YA
Frangie (medic), Rio (infantry), and Rainy (intelligence) face the ultimate battle at Omaha Beach on D-Day in this finale to Grant's powerful alternate-history series that places women in WWII combat. Through the desperate final days of the war, all three heroines must tap their reserves of strength and bravery. Well-written characters and meticulous attention to detail make for a harrowing but satisfying conclusion. Bib., glos.
Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello
(3)
YA
This second entry (Front Lines) in an alternate-history series in which women serve as soldiers during WWII finds medic Frangie, soldier Rio, and spy Rainy in 1943 Sicily. Faced with sexism, racism, and anti-Semitism in addition to war's brutal realities, the young women fight to survive and to attain social equity. Evocative, emotional storytelling will engross action fans and history buffs alike. Bib., glos.
Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello
(4)
YA
Grant follows up his Gone series with this trilogy-starter. Four years after kids survived a meteorite strike in the FAYZ (Fallout Alley Youth Zone), new meteorites are hitting Earth. This time, the alien virus causes a sudden onset of powers that come with a monstrous price. Not-so-ordinary teens, government masterminds, and alien forces fight to control humanity in this fast-paced if uninspired dystopian thriller.
Reviewer: Jenn Matters
(4)
YA
In an alternate-history United States, women fought in combat in WWII. Grant follows three young women--one white (infantry), one black (medic), and one Jewish (military intelligence)--as they go to war and also deal with condescension, harassment, sexism, racism, and anti-Semitism. The action moves swiftly, but a sense of artifice prevails. Authentic (and offensive) ethnic slurs abound, yet soldiers yell, "Fugging tanks!"
Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano
(3)
YA
In this second book, Mara, apprentice to the Messenger of Fear, is continuing to learn how to punish the wicked, selfish, and violently hateful. But in meting out justice, Messengers are themselves being punished: a tattoo marks each horror they've inflicted. Cloaked in contemporary geopolitical events and prejudices, the gory, otherworldly fantasy offers readers a window into the value of compassion.
Reviewer: David Elzey
(4)
YA
When fifteen-year-old Mara wakes up in a field, she remembers nothing about herself or her past but soon learns she has been chosen as the apprentice to the Messenger of Fear, who metes out justice to those who have escaped it. While full of truly creepy atmospherics, the story feels too intent on building toward the next book in this new series.
Reviewer: David Elzey
(3)
YA
After a brief rest, Noah, Sadie, and the rest of the BZRK crew return to action as the Armstrong twins and Lear develop new plans to destroy each other--and the world. Fans of the disturbing series can expect more violence, action, and both micro and macro plot twists as things come to an explosive ending in this volume.
Reviewer: Randy Ribay
(4)
YA
In this gory conclusion to the Gone series, it's unclear whether any of the kids will be left alive once the dome that has enclosed them through the previous five volumes is finally gone; certainly none will survive unscathed. While this novel will be irresistible for series fans, newcomers will need to catch up before diving in; characters remain two-dimensional.
Reviewer: April Spisak
(3)
YA
With their leader out of commission after their last battle, the BZRK crew struggles to continue their fight to preserve humanity's minds from evil nanotechnology. Meanwhile, the maniacal Armstrong twins retreat to their nightmarish Doll Ship and biots have taken control of the president. With abundant, graphic nanoscale-anatomy descriptions, the fast-paced sequel to BZRK will keep readers engaged and disturbed.
Reviewer: Randy Ribay
(3)
4-6
Magnificent 12 series.
With the Pale Queen's release from the underworld days away, Mack and the growing Magnifica must once again save the world. Before they can save anyone, though, they must find the rest of the twelve--including traitor Valin--and master their powers. Grant's fast-paced plot is sprinkled with humorous footnotes and parenthetical asides. Fans of the first three books will welcome this installment.
Reviewer: Jenn Matters
(4)
YA
In this fifth outing, the young people stuck inside the dome think they have a routine (however flawed) set, until everything begins to go dark: fear becomes a new enemy to face. The characters are complex and the blistering pace works well in describing the spontaneity of youth running their own world; unfortunately, awkward exposition masking as dialogue interrupts the flow.
Reviewer: April Spisak
(3)
YA
Teens Sadie and Noah are recruited into the battle of nature versus technology, as the deranged Armstrong twins seek world dominion by manipulating people's brains with nanotechnological robots. The guerrilla organization BZRK fights back with biots that get "down in the meat"--but at the risk of the host’s sanity. The book is all plot-driven action with terse, gory prose, including imaginative descriptions of the human body up-close.
Reviewer: Ariel Baker-Gibbs
(3)
4-6
Magnificent 12 series.
Twelve-year-old Mack returns, along with his growing band of Magnifica, in this witty adventure story. With just over a month until the Pale Queen rises, Mack must locate the rest of the Magnificent Twelve, collect the Key, and learn to wield Vargran magical words. The fast-paced plot and cheeky footnotes ensure fans will welcome this third series installment.
Reviewer: Jenn Matters
(2)
YA
Seventeen-year-old Eve's mother has put her to work in her bio-research lab, designing "the perfect boy." This is just a simulation, right? The text is rife with apt allusions to Frankenstein, the book of Genesis, Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam, and even Pygmalion; a love triangle element will keep readers engaged on a level beyond the scientific speculation.
Reviewer: Dean Schneider
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
January, 2013
(4)
YA
In this fourth Gone book, a plague of deadly flu invades the FAYZ. Sam, Astrid, Caine, et al., are forced to make desperate choices in their attempts to survive. With its large cast of generally flat characters, this new installment continues the series' trend of being overly long and fairly uninspired, except for a potentially interesting twist at the novel's end.
Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter
(3)
4-6
Magnificent 12 series.
Picking up where The Call left off, the story starts with Grimluck giving Mack cryptic clues to continue his quest. Fellow Magnifica Jarrah and bully-turned-bodyguard Stefan accompany Mack to China, Germany, and Asgard. They seek other Magnifica, the only hope against the Pale Queen. With several humorous viewpoints, Grant's series continues at a fast clip.
Reviewer: Jenn Matters
(4)
4-6
Magnificent 12 series.
Mack fears almost everything, making him an unlikely leader for a band of twelve preteen heroes. However, with his "head bully" bodyguard, Stefan, and cryptic messages from ancient magician Grimluk, Mack jumps into his destiny with a surprisingly level head. Grant's novel boasts loads of humor, but its too-often fourth-wall-breaking results in uneven pacing.
Reviewer: Jenn Matters
(4)
YA
In this sequel to Gone and Hunger, Sam seems to be the only mutant capable of moral integrity--or is he? Short, choppy sentences drive the very fast-moving plot of this near-future post-apocalyptic-meets-comic-book-video-game fantasy complete with graphic violence, death, and cannibalism. Multiple points of view add some confusion.
Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess
(4)
YA
In this sequel to Gone, everyone's starving in a new world without adults. The rich kids clash with the townies, the mutants fight the normals, and the insidious Darkness is coming for them all. The dramatic tension peters out after a two-hundred-page climactic battle scene, but fans of dystopian novels will gobble this one up despite its excesses.
Reviewer: Deborah Kaplan
(4)
YA
After all the adults vanish, kids under fourteen try to make do, taking care of themselves and the babies in a California town gone Lord of the Flies. The story's compelling setup is marred by some cardboard characters and clumsily incorporated elements. Still, many readers will be readily sucked into the dramas of this child-ruled survivalist society.
Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin
20 reviews
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