School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-Following on the popularity of apocalyptic zombie fiction, this is an edge-of-your-seat test of survival. Set in an anywhere town, the narrative moves along at a breakneck pace. Creek's Cause is a peaceful community filled with farms and hardworking people. Chance Rain is a 15-year-old who feels that he will never measure up to his brother, Patrick. Star quarterback and homecoming king Patrick is the envy of the other young men around him. Living a normal life on the farm, the brothers are content with tilling fields, delivering calves, hunting, and driving tractors. In one horrifying night, Creek's Cause becomes a war zone when everyone under the age of 18 quickly realizes that they are no longer safe. Chance and Patrick have already fended off multiple attacks from infected adults by the time they arrive at the school, where other survivors are hiding. The parasite that transformed the adults into ferocious, inhuman beings affects teens the minute they turn 18. Unfortunately for Patrick, his birthday is a few weeks away. The siblings are determined to save Patrick and the remaining kids, so they set out on a seemingly impossible mission to find out the truth. This title is one of the better YA zombie-esque novels that has been written in the last few years. It is refreshing and surprising and won't leave teens feeling as though they've traveled this path before. VERDICT Recommended for all YA collections, especially where Jonathan Maberry's "Rot &; Ruin" series is popular. Amy Caldera, Dripping Springs Middle School, TX

Voice of Youth Advocates

When the meteorite fragments of Asteroid 9918 Darwinia fall on Creek's Cause, the crops grow to gargantuan proportions, only to then wither and die, releasing mysterious particles into the air. Fifteen-year-old Chance Rain and his brother, seventeen-year-old Patrick, band together to fight the zombielike adults who have become infected by the particles. After saving Alex, Patrick's girlfriend, from her infected father, they head to the school. They discover that the entire town has been taken over by the Host creatures. The women, Catchers, restrain and cage the children, and the men, Mappers, are mapping the town for the alien invaders. At the school, the main characters discover that the spores do not affect humans until their eighteenth birthday. With Patrick's eighteenth birthday in a matter of days, the group journeys to a nearby town and discovers that Hosts have also invaded there. Back at the school, the TV confirms that it is a worldwide attack.The novel's plot moves quickly, and the conflict is engaging; however, the dairy-entry format feels forced, and the pace is often bogged down by excessive description of action. The Hosts are creepy, but readers who are used to ravenous zombies will not be impressed, although the aliens' use for the children, when revealed, is haunting and well written. Recommend this to readers who love science fiction novels jam-packed with fight scenes.Christina Jones.

Horn Book

A shattered asteroid hits Earth, sprouting deadly spores full of pollen-borne parasites that turn Creek's Cause residents over eighteen into a food source for ferocious aliens. It falls to the local Rain brothers, fifteen-year-old Chance and almost-eighteen Patrick, to discover what's going on and save humanity. This breakneck-paced mishmash of familiar post-apocalyptic and space-invader stories ends with a nod to the coming sequel.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

The apocalypse comes from outer space in this unsettling thriller, first in a planned series. When a meteor strikes the small town of Creek-s Cause, it infects every resident over the age of 18, turning them into terrifying monsters working in service to a higher, unknown purpose. As the transformed adults hunt down their own children, taking them away in cages, some manage to resist and seek refuge in the local school, including brothers Patrick and Chance Rain, and Patrick-s girlfriend, Alex. While Chance is 15, Patrick is swiftly approaching his 18th birthday; they have to find a way to stop the alien invasion before he, too, becomes one of the enemy. In his first book for teens, Hurwitz (Orphan X) crafts a tense, disturbing tale that-s simultaneously a story driven by brotherly love and the determination to survive against impossible odds. It-s a grim affair, the fight scenes brutal and visceral, and the cliffhanger ending will have readers desperate for answers. Ages 12-up. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance, Aaron M. Priest Literary. (Oct.)

ALA Booklist

Best-selling author of adult thrillers, Hurwitz turns to YA alien invasion in this suspenseful series starter. After the Dusting, a meteoric impact event that delivers alien plant life to the farming town of Creek's Cause, the adults fall prey to parasitic pollen. Children under 18 are captured and caged by once-trusted adults-turned-monsters; those who escape start a fragile community in the deserted high school. Finding out firsthand what happens when one turns 18 (hint: it's devastating) spurs 15-year-old Chance, his older brother Patrick, whose birthday is imminent, and Patrick's girlfriend, Alex, to take action. Modest, hard-working Chance, who narrates through diary entries, worships his lionhearted brother and will do anything to save him; their deeply caring relationship gives the action emotional intensity. Chance's transformation into a determined, selfless hero is well-earned. Though the science is dubious, it hardly matters: the aliens' full-scale plan is terrifying and viscerally repellent. A last-minute addition of a "chosen one" plot feels clichéd but necessary for forward momentum. Readers with a 5th Wave-shaped hole in their sf-loving hearts will rejoice. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-seller Hurwitz has proven he knows how to hook an adult audience. Expect his YA debut to have the same effect on teens.