When We Wake

Karen Healey is among today’s most talented YA speculative-fiction writers. Like Healey’s previous novels, When We Wake is highly imaginative and features her signature elements, including a strong female protagonist, a winning cast of diverse characters, and an intriguing secret that has world-changing potential. Tegan is resurrected in a transformed world in which she is famous for being the “Living Dead Girl”—the first person to be revived from cryo-stasis—but she knows no one and isn’t sure whom to trust. Her dilemma is engaging, and Tegan handles her unique situation with charming humor, while her struggles to cope inspire readers’ sympathy. In Healey’s exceptionally well-conceived and convincing vision of the future, computers are paper-thin sheets that can be folded and stored in a pocket, and climate change has altered the planet and exacerbated the gulf between rich and poor countries. Details such as these are skillfully integrated into the story. For example, Abdi, whom Tegan meets at her new school and falls for, is a Somalian who gained citizenship because of his beautiful singing voice but is mocked by some classmates who are biased against “thirdies,” immigrants from third-world countries. Tense action scenes build to an inspiring conclusion that may encourage readers to reflect on their ability to effect change in their twenty-first-century society.

On an ordinary day in 2027, sixteen-year-old Australian Tegan Oglietti is on her way to attend a climate change protest when she's shot and killed by a sniper. She wakes up to find that she's been cryogenically frozen for a century, and everyone she knows is long dead. Tegan is subject to intense military supervision and media scrutiny (the press calls her the "Living Dead Girl," and various political and religious groups all have opinions about her existence). But she bravely adjusts to her new reality, attending school, making friends, and learning new technology. When she hears about the mysterious "Ark Project," however, Tegan (with the help of new love interest Abdi) resolves to discover what secrets the government is keeping -- and once she does, she finds herself in danger and on the run. This gripping dystopic novel creates a future that logically extends the problems facing us today, such as human rights abuses, climate change, and diminishing natural resources. It ingeniously links this future to our time: for example, Tegan loves the Beatles, and chapter titles are named after their songs. Tegan is a passionate, stubborn protagonist determined to make a difference, and her anger at humanity is palpable. "You are not the future I wanted!...I wanted you to be better! Be better!" she screams at the indifferent people of the future -- a warning and a wake-up call for us, too. rachel l. smith