Peggy Eddleman
Random House, 275 pages, Juvenile Fiction
Twelve-year-old Hope lives in post World War III America. Most of the world had been destroyed by bombs. While there are surviving towns, they are still plagued by lingering air from the deadly bombs, known to everyone as bomb's breath. Breathing it in is fatal, so everyone in White Rock is terrified of it. Everyone, that is, except Hope and her friends when they discover that jumping in the deadly gas slows gravity's pull and allows them to float to the ground from high places safely.
World War III's bombs also destroyed most of the technology in the world. Inventing is a valuable skill in White Rock, but unfortunately one that Hope does not excel at. Medicine is especially valuable, and trouble starts when bandits attack the town for it's medicine. Hope takes on the deadly mission of saving her town, using her bravery and knowledge of the bomb's breath.
Eddleman spends a lot of time showing the reader the world of the book. A little over one hundred pages of showing, actually, before the inciting incident occurs. This didn't bother me because the world and characters were cool enough to keep me interested, but it might be harder for a reader who doesn't want to wait 100 pages for the real action of the book to begin. When the bandits come, however, the action is almost non-stop. This is a fun introduction to post apocalyptic literature for children. I look forward to more books in this series.
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