The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Alice wanted a doll for her birthday. She wouldn't settle for anything less. She had a baby carriage and socks ready for the doll she was sure she was getting. However, her birthday gift didn't look exactly as she had pictured him. Her mom tried convincing Alice that it was a much better gift than a regular doll. Alice wasn't convinced. She took him to the park in the baby carriage (she couldn't figure out where to put the socks) but she kept him hidden from her friends, telling them "he was very fragile, and often got the flu". Can Alice keep the truth about her "doll" a secret? And if he isn't a doll, what is he? Read My First . . . by Eva Montanari to learn the secret of Alice's birthday gift. Not only is this a unique and curious story, but Montanari's quirky, atmospheric illustrations are fantastic.
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