The Sandcastle Empire

May 29, 2017
Questions of justice, privilege, and inequity hang over Olson’s smart, fast-paced debut, set in a near-future Earth racked by climate devastation and war. Seventeen-year-old Eden lost everything, including her father, when citizens calling themselves the Wolfpack took over in a populist uprising amid planet-transforming floods. Eden and others now work in gulags, suffering daily indignities from the brutal Wolves. Following a bloody battle, Eden makes a break for it, setting sail along with three fellow runaways. They head for the fabled refuge of Sanctuary Island, but upon arrival it appears to be deserted. After they locate a temple full of deadly traps, and a trio of boys arrives on the island, Eden discovers that her newfound safety is fleeting at best. Eden, who narrates, is both brave and aware of her flaws. Readers will enjoy sinking into the thoughtfully constructed details of Olson’s ravaged future Earth, as well as a number of terrifying action sequences that build to a game-changing twist and the potential for more to come. Ages 14–up. Agent: Holly Root and Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary.

March 15, 2017
Olson offers a vision of a bleak, uncertain future.Ever since the Wolfpack took over and threw everyone who was against them into work camps, life has been constant pain, hunger, and fear. With her father dead, present-tense narrator Eden is alone with nothing to lose and only dreams of freedom to keep her going. When she finally manages to escape her captors, it is with three other girls, Finnley, Alexa, and Hope. With nowhere else to go, the girls seek out and find the fabled Sanctuary, a safe, neutral island--but when Finnley disappears, it soon becomes clear that this is no safe place. When she mysteriously reappears with three boys in tow, the girls find themselves in the middle of a plot to overthrow the Wolfpack. For Eden, this new challenge is also an opportunity to delve deeper into her father's death and the twisted world he helped create. Overlaid with Eden's memories, hopes, and lost dreams, the novel is in turns wistful and poetic. It touches on issues such as the unequal distribution of wealth and power in a world with dwindling resources, but aspects of this world's society and technological advances feel undefined. Finnley and Hope are white, Alexa is Asian, and Eden, although she doesn't describe herself, speaks from a white default. Filled with interesting characters and difficult scenarios, this debut is designed to leave readers thinking. (Post-apocalyptic adventure. 14-18)

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May 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-After a violent group called the Wolfpack seizes control of the United States in 2055, Eden escapes from a gulag on the Texas coast along with three other girls. They flee to Sanctuary Island, a supposedly safe place that Eden locates by following directions in a guidebook her scientist father gave her before he disappeared. The teens quickly discover that the island is a hostile jungle environment occupied by Resistance fighters who may not be trustworthy and Wolves who plan to turn them into spies. Short, action-packed chapters will appeal to reluctant readers, although the too-convenient plot points may induce eye rolls. (For instance, when the girls' compass starts malfunctioning during their sail to the island, Eden finds a section in the survival manual called "HOW TO NAVIGATE WITHOUT A COMPASS.") The sophisticated gadgets used by the Wolves and the Resistance will delight tech geeks. Unfortunately, the character development and dialogue don't match up with the inventive world-building. Cliches litter the text, and the dialogue belongs in a bad action movie ("What they don't know is that I'm a sheep in wolves' clothes"). VERDICT A strictly additional purchase; only for collections that need more suspenseful dystopian stories for reluctant readers.-Amy Duffy, Chicago Public Library

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2017
Grades 8-12 On Zero Day, the (human) Wolves took over and upended the status quo: wealthy people were consigned to gulags, siblings killed each other over philosophical differences, and Eden lost her brilliant engineer father to the Wolves' need to control the world. Eden escapes her prison and finds herself on a deadly island with five other people, in search of a way to stop the madness. First-time author Olson creates a memorable mix of social upheaval, survival story, and trust issues. The first-person narrative is effective as readers share Eden's limited understanding of the situation, heightening the story's tension, although the brief reflection chapters fall a bit flat. The setting, a tropical island shielded by and equipped with technology-enhanced nature, is so menacing that it becomes another character in and of itself. Touches of horror, like razor-sharp plants and blood-seeking beetles, are balanced by sweet moments, including a friendship that hints at lesbian love interest and a romance that develops between main characters. Give this to dystopia fans or those looking for a fantastical survival tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
In a dystopian near future plagued by rising oceans, domestic terrorists called the Wolfpack have overthrown the U.S. government. Eden, who lost her family on "Zero Day," is imprisoned in a camp, biding her time until an escape to neutral-territory Sanctuary Island is possible. The novel's plot is overly complex, but its real strength is the poetic prose, filled with potent metaphors.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)