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

Emerson (Carlos Is Gonna Get It) launches the Atlanteans series with a novel that blends post-apocalyptic, SF, and paranormal elements into a summer camp story. In a future in which climate change has rendered most of the planet uninhabitable, teenage Owen has gotten a rare scholarship to Camp Eden, where privileged kids and survivors of cryogenic freezing can experience a simulation of the biosphere of old. When he almost drowns, he discovers the camp's hidden secret: Owen and a handful of others (including his crush, Lilly) have developed gills and can breathe underwater. Owen is thrilled by his new abilities and sense of belonging, but when a child at the camp dies under mysterious circumstances, it becomes apparent that something sinister is occurring at Camp Eden. As Owen and friends attempt to figure out who to trust, they uncover more conspiracies about both the camp and the state of the world. Emerson throws perhaps a little too much into the book, but the high-stakes narrative moves forward with momentum, and a romance between Owen and Lilly is gracefully unveiled. Ages 13-up. Agent: George Nicholson, Sterling Lord Literistic. (May)

Kirkus Reviews

Coming-of-age story meets conspiracy thriller at a summer camp in a post–climate-catastrophe world. During his first full day at Camp Eden Owen drowns. In the 10 minutes he's underwater before lifeguard (and Owen's crush) Lilly rescues him, he survives by sprouting gills. Camp Eden exists in a distant future wrecked so severely by global warming that it must be contained in climate-controlled BioDome. Owen's disastrous introduction to the camp is normal for him--he isn't a privileged full-time dome resident, but a kid who won a lottery to attend camp, socially awkward and physically weak. Lilly warns him not to reveal his gills to the staff and invites him into the counselor-in-training clique for secret swims with their shared mutations. Investigating the camp--why would letting the camp director know about the gills be dangerous?--leads to his discovery that the dome is close to failing, as well as hints at a larger scheme that will doom or save the world. The conspiracy hinges on Owen. Minor social conflicts fail to ramp up enough tension until the long-awaited main plot begins in earnest--more than halfway through--bringing high stakes. The plot suffers from the pacing, but it ends with a big finish. Between Owen, likable in his thoughtfully awkward way while evolving into a hero, and the lovingly crafted setting, Camp Eden offers summer escapism. (Science fiction. 11-17)

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

In this story set following a global-warming crisis, Owen is selected to attend Camp Eden in one of Earth's four BioDomes. The lies told by the camp's administration along with Owen's physical transformation (he grows gills) set him and his friends on a quest for the truth. Though not a totally successful dystopian story, the novel will still keep many readers intrigued.

School Library Journal (Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

Gr 8-10 In a postapocalyptic world in which water is scarce and sunlight kills, privileged teenagers still enjoy the opportunity to attend summer camps. These camps are set up in giant domes that protect the inhabitants from radioactivity and allow everyone within to pretend that everything is fine. Owen is a poor kid from Hub whose father entered him into a drawing, and Owen won. During a swim on his second day of camp, Owen drowns&30; but he doesn't die. Instead, he begins to change in unexplainable ways, and he soon learns that he's not the only one. When he begins to talk to some of the other campers, he learns that over the years, students have vanished and their disappearances have been conveniently explained by the staff. He also learns that the dome is beginning to fail. This book examines a postapocalyptic world from a different perspective, because all the action takes place in a setting that closely resembles any summer camp one might visit today. However, underneath the varnish of swimming holes, archery ranges, and mess halls, there is the truth that the Earth is dying. Owen is an awkward teen-not a natural hero. Even though his body is metamorphosing into something strange and he's being called to fulfill an ancient quest, he's still a self-conscious guy, trying to get the girl to like him. The ending of the book leaves plenty of room for the sequel, and readers will likely be intrigued enough to continue. Heather M. Campbell, formerly at Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO