Fifteen-year-old Lucy, orphaned by the plague, lives alone in a bramble-protected, rough camp in postapocalyptic Manhattan until she is rescued from a wild dog attack by Aidan, who reminds her what it is like to be around people. After a tsunami obliterates her camp, Lucy finds Aidan and his group of survivors just in time for hazmat-suited Sweepers to abduct several members of the group. The Sweepers eventually get Lucy and Aidan, and it appears that Lucy's blood may be the start of an antidote for the plague ether she is alive to give it or not. Strongly reminiscent of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet (1987) and Will Weaver's Memory Boy (2001) but with a female protagonist and urban setting, the focus here is on action rather than introspection. Treggiari's writing is smooth and even vivid at times e turtle-soup-preparation scene may make some folks a little queasy t it isn't gratuitous. Meshed well into the main narrative are well-incorporated subplots about the acceptance of difference (of folks who were ravaged by the plague), romance, and loyalty.

The lives and accomplishments of prominent African Americans, along with obstacles they had to overcome, are presented in this series. Each volume profiles thirteen people, the first seven in great detail. Color and black-and-white photographs and informational boxes accompany the somewhat pedestrian texts, which annoyingly refer to the subjects by their first names. Ind.

Gr 9 Up-Treggiari's novel is undone by a far-fetched, overcrowded premise. Global warming has left most of New York City under water, and the remaining bits of dry land are mostly uninhabited thanks to a worldwide plague. Sixteen-year-old Lucy is carrying on as best she can on her own, but when a tsunami threatens her shelter, she must seek out fellow survivors. As if erratic weather patterns, plagues, and melting ice caps are not enough, the small settlement Lucy joins is threatened constantly by Sweepers (the requisite bad guys in uniform). The sympathetically drawn characters are the book's greatest strength; Lucy, in particular, is a protagonist to whom teens will relate as she struggles through the chaos of her life. The author writes with an immediacy that envelops readers, bringing to mind the work of Suzanne Collins and Carrie Ryan. But where their titles are deftly plotted page-turners, Ashes, Ashes is actually a bit of a yawner. Long, drawn-out descriptions of survival techniques may appeal to some teens, but many won't make it past the first chapter. Sam Bloom, Groesbeck Branch Library, Cincinnati, OH