Gr 5-7-In 2069, Earth is partially destroyed by the detonation of 27 green bombs that leave behind a pocket of dense oxygen molecules potent enough to kill any creature that inhales them. Twelve-year-old Hope lives in one of the few safe areas of fertile land that still remain. This life-threatening pocket of air, known as the Bomb's Breath, has blocked all magnetic forces, causing many of the technological advancements of the early 21st century to disappear. Now the mostly agrarian society puts heavy emphasis on people to invent useful gadgets to improve on the quality of life, but Hope has no skills in this area. The only thing that she is good at is jumping through the Bomb's Breath, a secret she has shared only with her friend Aaron. At a council meeting, the citizens of White Rock are told that the Bomb's Breath, besides being a danger, has also served as a deterrent to roving groups of bandits from looting their town. When some thieves break through these protective perimeters to hold the town hostage for a rare antibiotic they have invented, Hope's father is injured in the process. The antibiotic is the only cure for Shadel's Sickness, a contagious disease developed as an offshoot of the war. Besides her dad needing the medicine to stave off the infection from his injury, the entire community needs it to survive the next year. Help from the neighboring communities is mandatory before time runs out, so Hope, along with some friends, carries off a daring and dangerous escape to run for help. The curriculum strengths of this book include heavy STEM subjects such as chemistry, medical biology, and earth science, as well as the structure of local government and nation building. Students not ready for the violence of The Hunger Games will enjoy the book's adrenaline-rush daredevil adventures in the first installment in this series.-Sabrina Carnesi, Crittenden Middle School, Newport News, VA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
