Emmy Laybourne's debut novel begins at a breakneck pace and rarely lets up, as 14 students try to survive a series of cataclysmic events while trapped--or safely sequestered, depending on how one looks at it--inside a Greenway superstore in Monument, Colo.
Caught in an epic hailstorm, a schoolbus driver steers her vehicle through the glass doors of a superstore in order to keep her passengers safe. Laybourne constructs the novel as a journal written by 11th-grader Dean Grieder, whose younger brother also makes it to safety. Dean's keen perceptions quickly orient readers to the cast of characters, among them: Jake, the star quarterback; Brayden, his hothead teammate; a champion diver who's the apple of Jake's eye, as well as Dean's; and Niko, whom they call "Brave Hunter Man." Most of the action plays out among the high school kids, but Laybourne gives each character--including the young children with them--distinct personalities.
Laybourne gets the dynamics of a group trapped together just right. Love triangles emerge, Niko and Jake vie for the leadership role, and Dean embodies the conflicting impulses of wanting to stay present and alive and also wishing to check out by raiding the store's alcohol and pharmaceutical supplies. Laybourne's realistic depictions of the psychologies of her characters and the gamut of emotions that come into play in such extreme circumstances place this a cut above most entries in the dystopic genre. Readers will hope for many more from this talented author. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness