The Big Empty

After half of the world's population is killed by a plague, seven teenagers seek a better life in a nightmarish future by deciphering coded messages and trying to avoid the Slashers. Original.

Grade 7 Up–In the very near future, a devastating virus has killed off more than half the human race. In the United States, a military dictatorship has taken over, moving the population toward the coasts, away from what has been renamed The Big Empty. Seven teens come together in what used to be Clearwater, MO. Keely, Jonah, and Irene are there looking for Novo Mundum, which seems to be a commune of intelligent, creative sorts who don't want to follow the martial law of the new and unelected president. Diego, a local, has been shot by soldiers after refusing to evacuate. Streetwise Amber is 15, pregnant, and looking for her ex-boyfriend. Michael and his about-to-be-ex-girlfriend, Maggie, meet up with the group when they flee their comfortable lives in order to avoid execution for a crime they didn't commit. Stephens's dystopian vision is all the more frightening because it's not outside the realm of possibility. The adventure is filled with little details that set it firmly in the next few years, and all of the teens are smart and resourceful (except for Maggie, a living, breathing cliché who absolutely refuses to admit that the world she knew no longer exists). The ending leaves the door wide open for further volumes. Give this one to fans of Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butcher's "Fire-Us" trilogy (HarperCollins).–Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library
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