In this high-octane sequel to Monument 14, the group of kids trapped in the Colorado Greenway store (because toxic gases have leaked from a compromised government facility) has split up in order to improve their chances of survival. But as new dangers loom, they fear that each breath of the poisoned air could be their last.
At the end of Monument 14, Boy Scout Niko and seven others decided to make a break for the Denver International Airport in Mrs. Wooly's battered school bus. Their harrowing journey is recorded in the journal pages of 13-year-old Alex, whose older brother, Dean, stayed behind. Back at the store, Dean tries to keep up everyone's spirits while still reeling from the news that his crush Astrid is pregnant. Chapters alternate between Alex and Dean's voices, as the brothers relate the horrors that beset each group. Alex's faction confronts terrifying roadside marauders, while Dean's gang deals with increasingly violent attempts by desperate outsiders to breach the Greenway's defenses. Almost every character's fate is in doubt in the final pages.
Readers are advised to start with the first book, as Sky on Fire is a true sequel. This time around, Laybourne skimps on the nuanced characterization that distinguished her first volume in favor of bloody, cinematic action that makes the pages fly. But fans will be more than satisfied, and both books may well be in the beach bag or on the e-reader of most every teen this summer. --Jennifer Hubert Swan, middle school librarian and Library Department chair at Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School