While We Run

Gr 9 Up—In this gripping sequel to When We Wake (Little, Brown, 2013), the schemes, betrayals, and heroics of a group of teenagers living in Australia in 2127 are told from the perspective of Abdi Taalib, who was last seen through the eyes of Tegan, the first novel's protagonist. The story opens with Abdi and Tegan in captivity, used and abused in order to quell the unrest they created with Tegan's last telecast that uncovered various governmental wrongdoings. There is, of course, a thrilling escape, shifting loyalties, tough decisions, and romance. The future world Healey creates is all the more terrifying for being entirely plausible. Her chosen dystopian plot points (regeneration of cryogenically frozen youth, environmental destruction, and dreams of fleeing a dying planet) are compelling and gripping. However, it's the social justice consciousness she brings to these elements that make this title stand above most others. Her cast of characters is diverse but not tokenizing or whitewashed. A Muslim girl scrupulously performs her prayers in between her journalist/hacker crusades. The trans lesbian chemist helps bring medicine to struggling nations but refuses to engage in top-down cultural imperialism. Abdi is a rape survivor, and Healey offers one of the rare instances when an abusive sexual dynamic between an older woman and a teenage boy is effectively dealt with in young adult fiction. There are some four-letter words and sexuality, but nothing gratuitous or overly graphic, and while the themes are fairly intense, the series is an excellent read for high school students.—Kyle Lukoff, Corlears School, New York City