The Delta Codex by Deva Fagan (A Game of Noctis) is a nimble middle-grade science fiction bildungsroman that features a naïve yet charismatic lead.
Codex Delta has no memories of the time before she was summoned to the Vault of Echoes six years ago. Now 11 ("Twelve?"), she understands that being a codex means she must hold "powerful" and "dangerous" echoes of the knowledge brought to Danak-Tol two centuries ago; she must also remain silent to keep the echoes from waking. The wardens assure the codexes that this is "the greatest honor a citizen could have." But pale-skinned Codex Delta is unsure. When she meets Kesi and Jyn, the "warm brown"-skinned children of a city minister, they tell her the echo she holds must be awoken. Their mom thinks it belongs "to someone who knew something about the bloodstorms" and could be used to save the planet from the storms' increasing frequency and toxicity. Suddenly Codex Delta is part of a plot, escaping into the forbidden wasteland beyond Danak-Tol's walls. With the aid of a tablet, Codex Delta begins to express herself and to understand the deep-rooted secrets that kept her silent and imprisoned.
Fagan has crafted an engrossing, post-apocalyptic yet hopeful adventure that takes place in a world that contains both whimsy and menace. The dangers outside the city walls, including toxic blooms and monstrous sphincters, pale in comparison to the perils of the stifling, secretive society within. Delta's journey from parroting propaganda to thinking for herself is the kind of compelling and believable that has brought decades of readers to Lois Lowry's The Giver and newer generations to Donna Barba Higuera's Alebrijes. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author