Dark Life

Dark Life, by Kat Falls, is an apocalyptic science fiction novel for tweens.  Recommended to me by my son, I quickly moved this story into my reading line-up.   My students will understand what I mean when I say it's a Junior Library Guild (gold sticker) book and a new possibility for the Fall Book Frenzy for 2011.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book and know several students who would love it!  As our students have been taught to say, "It's a just right book for science fiction lovers!"

Here's what Scholastic has to say about the book:

"Earthquakes shattered the continents, toppling entire regions into the rising water. Now, humans live packed into stack cities. The only ones with any space of their own are those who live on the ocean floor, the Dark Life. Ty has spent his whole life living deep undersea, helping his family farm the ocean floor. But when outlaws attack his homestead, Ty finds himself in a fight to save the only home he has ever known. Joined by Gemma, a girl from the Topside who has come subsea to look for her brother, Ty ventures into the frontier's rough underworld and discovers some dark secrets to Dark Life . . . secrets that threaten to destroy everything.  In Dark Life, Kat Falls has created a breathtaking world where the deep can be dangerous, the darkness can be deadly, and sometimes it takes extraordinary power to survive."


To watch Scholastic's video trailer of the book, follow the link below:  
Video Trailer 

I predict my students will enjoy the character, Shade, the most.  He's well-written and to be perfectly honest, showed up in my nightmare last night.  (cold chills..yuk!)  I highly recommend this book to science fiction fans who love reading about futuristic societies and to those who enjoy a little romance mixed in with their sci-fi.  Yes, there's some kissing in this book!!!  (I'm doing the fish kissy-face at the screen right now!  Try it.  It's fun!) Overall, it's a fun book to read with a serious issue hiding beneath the plot.  What would we do if the polar caps melted and caused the oceans to rise?  Do you think we have a plan?  In this book, we didn't.  We reacted by crowding people into already overcrowded cities.  Fortunately, several scientists decided to brave the mostly uncharted ocean floor to help solve the problem. Who could have guessed they'd stumble onto...oops, almost ruined it for ya!


Can't wait for more of my students to read this book.
Now I have a strange desire to go swimming...since it's snowing outside, guess I'll have to settle for a nice, warm shower.


Happy Swimming (ahem, sorry) Reading!
RC