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Summary
Summary
"Utterly absorbing, and packed with heart, action, and questions that lingered long past the final page. I read it in a single day."--Amie Kaufman, author of the Aurora Cycle and the Elementals trilogy
The year is 2072. Soon a volcanic eruption will trigger catastrophic devastation, and the only way out is up.
While the world's leaders, scientists, and engineers oversee the frantic production of a space fleet meant to save humankind, their children are brought in for a weekend of touring the Lazarus , a high-tech prototype spaceship. But when the apocalypse arrives months ahead of schedule, First Daughter Leigh Chen and a handful of teens from the tour are the only ones to escape the planet. This is the new world- a starship loaded with a catalog of human artifacts, a frozen menagerie of animal DNA, and fifty-three terrified survivors. From the panic arises a coalition of leaders, spearheaded by the pilot's enigmatic daughter, Eli, who takes the wheel in their hunt for a habitable planet. But as isolation presses in, their uneasy peace begins to fracture. The struggle for control will mean the difference between survival and oblivion, and Leigh must decide whether to stand on the side of the mission or of her own humanity.
With aching poignancy and tense, heart-in-your-mouth action, this enthralling saga will stay with readers long after the final page.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--It's 2072 and the end of life on Earth looms with the anticipated eruption of a super-volcano that will render the planet uninhabitable. When it erupts two months ahead of schedule, 18-year-old Leigh Chen, daughter of the President of the United States, is touring the Lazarus, a prototype generation spaceship meant to save millions. It launches with only the children of Global Fleet Planning Commission members aboard, forcing the group of 50-odd teens from around the world to organize themselves into a functional crew while grappling with tensions around governance, power, and surveillance. The discovery that critical supplies are missing from the ship fuels intense conflict over whether to proceed to a lost colony or to return to a space station to rescue a stranded astronaut, potentially the only other survivor in the universe. The worldbuilding shines, with complex global political disputes leading up to the civilization-ending event that continue to ripple out in the interactions among the international cast of characters. Having grown up in the public eye, Leigh is a consummate diplomat and people-pleaser whose inability to voice a strong opinion leads to internal turmoil as the ship's social structure breaks down. Leigh is Chinese American and secondary characters are Kenyan, Egyptian, and Russian. While thought-provoking political and societal questions are raised, the plot suffers from some significant holes and a frustrating twist ending. VERDICT Recommended for secondary purchase or where sci-fi collections need a refresh.--Elizabeth Giles
Publisher's Weekly Review
In 2072, Earth's Global Fleet Planning Commission is desperately building a group of generation starships, anticipating an imminent, extinction-level volcanic eruption on Earth. But disaster strikes months earlier than predicted, while the children of 50-some GFPC members are visiting the prototype ship, Lazarus, in California. Their number includes 18-year-old American First Daughter Leigh Chen, of Chinese descent, who soon takes charge. With a handful of other leaders, including Sergei Volkov from Russia, U.S. pilot's child Eli Jefferson, and Caro Omondi from Kenya, Leigh works to rally the traumatized shipmates into crewing and maintaining their new home as well as preparing for the future while navigating loss. But not everyone agrees with the ship's new leadership, and, worse, the Lazarus isn't fully stocked or prepared. With scant food aboard, they set a course for a last-chance supply source, even as tensions rise and unity fractures. In this gripping near-future Lord of the Flies reimagining, Redgate (Final Draft) skillfully ups the tension, offering an in-depth exploration of grief and trauma while depicting the slow disintegration of morale and societal breakdown within the ship's tiny community, which comprises tweens and teens representing various ages, countries of origin, ethnicities, and religions, all fighting for survival. Ages 14--up. Agent: Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown Literary. (Apr.)
Horn Book Review
In the near future, scientists predict a volcanic eruption that will render Earth unlivable. The global plan to launch generation ships is fraught with political and technical failure; fifty-three teenagers alone leave Earth on the one viable ship, and grief, along with food and personnel shortages, soon take their toll. Leigh Chen, first daughter of the U.S., struggles to balance her habitual evasive diplomacy against the urgent need for action, as the crew slides into panicked violence. With a firm handle on her characters' personalities and evolving fears, Redgate steers the reader through a space thriller that is chilling without being nihilistic. The ship technology and its grim shortcomings are well-considered and generally fresh. Light romance and a pull-no-punches ending round out this emotionally adroit, nerve-wracking novel. Alex Schaffner July/August 2022 p.134(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
It's 2072, and a group of teens has one chance at surviving the end of the world: a prototype spaceship. Eighteen-year-old Leigh Chen, daughter of the president of the United States, knows a volcano will soon erupt, leading to the destruction of Earth's atmosphere. She also knows the Global Fleet Planning Commission has a plan: to rebuild on a new planet, 5.4 light-years away. While Leigh and other children of GFPC members are touring a launch site in California, the eruption unexpectedly begins. Approximately 50 teenagers from around the world find themselves on a journey that will last many lifetimes, relying on an unfinished ship and a minimal supply of food. On their side is Eli, White American daughter of the spaceship's intended pilot. Eli forms a small leadership council to run the ship that includes Chinese American Leigh along with members from Kenya, Russia, Bolivia, and Egypt. As fault lines in the group quickly become apparent, Leigh busies herself with smoothing over conflicts among the survivors. But as they begin to repeat the mistakes of their parents, she must confront a question from her almost-friend, Anis Ibrahim: What does she really stand for? Part survival story and part exploration of the tenuous ties of cooperation, this memorable page-turner is a successful foray into science fiction for Redgate. A gripping post-apocalyptic survival story featuring a multinational cast and just the right amount of introspection. (Science fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
It's 2072 and the end of the world is coming. Everyone on Earth knows, and they've been bracing for the volcanic eruption that will trigger a runaway greenhouse effect, rendering the planet uninhabitable. A plan is in motion to save a fraction of the world's population, and though it's led to escalating global tensions, a slim chance of survival is better than nothing. But that's before the end comes early and the only people who make it off the planet are the 53 children of the world's diplomats, who were touring the Lazarus, a prototype spaceship, at the time of the eruption. Among them is Leigh Chen, First Daughter of the U.S., who quickly assumes a leadership role among the group of shell-shocked teens. As the Lazarus charts its tentative--and potentially doomed--course into deep space with limited resources and without the rest of its fleet, the survivors cope with their grief, their fear, and their distrust of each other and weigh the depths of resilience they'll need to reach for to survive as individuals and as a species. In a tense, understated narrative, Redgate (Final Draft, 2018) explores the mundanity of fear and the limits of humanity. Urgently driven by its desperate characters and flecked with hope despite its bleakness, this is a study of extremes that will linger with its readers.