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ACID
Author:
Pass, Emma
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Class:
Fiction
Age: 14-19
Language: English
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LC: PZ7.P269
Grade: 9-12
Print Run: 20000
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ISBN-13: 9780385743877
LCCN: 2013002923
Imprint: Delacorte Press
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Pub Date: 03/11/2014
Availability: Out of Stock Indefinitely
List: $17.99
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Hardcover
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Physical Description:
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382 pages ; 22 cm
H 8.52",
W 6.18",
D 1.3",
1.05 lbs.
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LC Series:
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Brodart Sources:
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Brodart's For Youth Interest: Popular
Brodart's Insight Catalog: Teen
Brodart's TOP Young Adult Titles
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Bibliographies:
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Awards:
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Horn Book Guide Titles, Rated 1 - 4
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Starred Reviews:
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TIPS Subjects:
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Science Fiction
Suspense/Thriller
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BISAC Subjects: |
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Fantasy / General
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Social Themes / Death, Grief, Bereavement
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Social Themes / Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
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LC Subjects:
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England, Fiction
England, Juvenile fiction
Fugitives from justice, Fiction
Fugitives from justice, Juvenile fiction
Government, Resistance to, Fiction
Government, Resistance to, Juvenile fiction
Police, Fiction
Police, Juvenile fiction
Science fiction
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SEARS Subjects: |
England, Fiction
Fugitives from justivce, Fiction
Police, Fiction
Resistance to government, Fiction
Science fiction
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Reading Programs: |
Accelerated Reader Level:
5.5
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Points: 15.0
Lexile Level:
840
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| Annotations |
| Brodart's TOP Young Adult Titles | 03/01/2014 |
| Freed from a prison by a mysterious rebel group after being locked up for a sinister crime she barely remembers, Jenna Strong seeks the answers about the night that changed her life and wiped her memories two years ago, braving a world run by the ruthless, tyrannical police force known as ACID. 384pp. |
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| Journal Reviews |
| Booklist | 04/01/2014 |
| Grades 9-12. In the year 2113, 17-year-old Jenna Strong is locked away in an all-male prison by ACID (Agency of Crime Investigation and Defense), a brutal totalitarian police force, for a violent crime she cannot remember committing. Once a pampered upper-class teen with a perfect life ahead of her in the vigilantly controlled dystopian society, Jenna, after two years in prison, is tougher than most of the inmates, down to the tattoo on her neck that crudely tells the world just where it can go. After she is unwittingly smuggled out of the prison by a rebel group during a riot, she falls in with them, convinced by their determined leader to help bring the ugly truth about the totalitarian regime to the people. As Jenna joins in the struggle against ACID, she slowly begins to decipher conflicting clues about her own history, which has been more orchestrated than she ever realized. Plot holes detract in this debut novel, but the extremely capable female protagonist drives the story and should attract an appreciative audience. Trevelyan, Julie. 400p. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2014. |
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| Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books | 06/01/2014 |
| Ad. Gr. 9-12. Jenna thought that at seventeen, she had figured out her rule for what remained of her life-be merciless to anyone who tries to mess with her in the maximum-security prison where she is one of few female inmates, after having been tried and sentenced as an adult for murdering her parents. She doesn't expect that people are going to risk their lives to help her escape, but that's exactly what happens, and suddenly Jenna's mixed up in a large-scale plot to take down ACID, the brutal police force that has been in power since the British government handed over control in the mid-twenty-second century. Although she struggles mightily against being used by anyone, good or bad, Jenna is essentially a pawn, first being renamed by the good guys and then receiving an actual brain adjustment from the bad. The concept-the layering of the protagonist as she first claims a new identity and then has her memory adjusted-is admirably intriguing, but ultimately four versions (there's yet another forcible memory shift in her past that she doesn't learn about until later) of the same character makes for a muddled narrative. In addition, the resistance force is poorly described, and it's led by a character so one-sided that his evil is uninspiring rather than threatening. Nevertheless, a tough chick who can protect herself admirably, especially one who turns out to be way more sympathetic than she first appears, may still find a ready audience in character-driven YA readers. AS. 382p. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIV. OF ILLINOIS, c2014. |
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| Horn Book Guide | 11/01/2014 |
| 3. Jenna, incarcerated for the supposed murder of her parents, questions her twenty-second-century society after a resistance group helps her escape. This event launches an adventure in which she must assume layers of secret identities. ACID, the police force running what was once the United Kingdom, modifies her memory more than once, and the resulting unreliable narration makes for a fresh take on the dystopian genre. sf. 382pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2014. |
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| Kirkus Reviews | 03/01/2014 |
| A teenage fugitive unravels the truth about her past while dismantling a dystopian police state. Imprisoned for the murder of her parents by the Agency for Crime Investigation and Defense, 17-year-old Jenna Strong hones her fighting skills under the tutelage of the prison medic, Dr. Fisher. Just as an altercation with an inmate lands her in the infirmary, a riot breaks out, and Jenna finds herself at the center of a covert rescue mission that ends with her escape and Dr. Fisher's death. Jenna's rescuers give her a new identity, but it isn't long before she finds herself in the cross hairs of ACID again as Max Fisher, the son of her old friend, runs into her not long before her cover is blown. The first-person narrative revs up quickly but slows considerably halfway through the book when Jenna is forced to make a critical and unpleasant decision. Pass draws an uneven portrait of a traumatized heroine; Jenna never regains the steeliness she had in prison after she's reintroduced into society. She falls easily for Max, a wooden character happy to remain mostly in her shadow. Devoted fans of the genre may find intrigue in a walled-off future United Kingdom but will wish for a more dynamic heroine to deliver its revolution. A dutiful dystopia that never delves below its shallow surface. (Dystopian romance. 14-18). 400pg. KIRKUS MEDIA LLC, c2014. |
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| Publishers Weekly | 01/13/2014 |
| Ages 14-up. The question dogging Pass's debut is, "Why?" Why has 17-year-old Jenna Strong an escapee from a maximum-security prison two years after being sentenced to life for murdering her parents? Why is she given an elaborate new identity by mysterious strangers and sent to hide in a squalid ghetto of 2113 London, now a police state? It's a long time before these basic motivational questions are addressed. Meanwhile, Jenna becomes entangled with the son of the man who broke her out of prison, her cover goes wrong, and she winds up on the run from the agents of ACID--the Agency for Crime Investigation and Defense--the new masters of England. It's a standard totalitarian dystopia fraught with the usual perils for a protagonist living outside the rules, and there's nothing wrong with that. But it's not particularly twisty or intriguing, either, and with no apparent rationale for the action, the book relies on readers' genre expectations to carry the plot until some of the questions begin to be framed. Agent: Carolyn Whitaker, London Independent Books. (Mar.). 400p. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2014. |
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| School Library Journal | 04/01/2014 |
| Gr 9 Up. Jenna Strong has been broken out of prison by a mysterious group fighting against ACID, the totalitarian government ruling Britain in 2113. Although she was imprisoned for the murder of her parents, she hardly remembers the night it happened. Now she's on the run, trying to stay under ACID's radar as she reclaims her memories, her identity, and her life. While ACID begins with a compelling premise and a protagonist who is strong and strongly characterized, it quickly weakens. Three times in the book, Jenna is assigned a new identity, sometimes accompanied by new memories. In each instance, the story is essentially reset, disrupting the pacing, dissipating any tension, and setting Jenna off in a new direction. The plot relies too much on coincidence, making it feel that Jenna's story is happening to her rather than because of her. Jenna's love for Max, the son of the man who died rescuing her, further weakens the protagonist and plot. It clouds her judgment, making her take selfish risks that the cold, calculating Jenna readers meet in prison would never take. There's no explanation for why she loves him, only that she "feel[s] an inexplicable pull towards him, a rush of intense love...." ACID's premise will draw in plenty of readers, but it fails to deliver much substance or satisfaction. Strictly for dystopian completionists--there's better fare to be had in the saturated market for the genre. Gretchen Kolderup, New York Public Library. 400p. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2014. |
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| ~VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine - Retired Journal) | 02/01/2014 |
| 3Q 3P S. One hundred years in the future, the Independent Republic of Britain is controlled by a brutal police force known as ACID. ACID makes all decisions, including each person's career, home, and spouse (or LifePartner in ACID parlance.) Teen Jenna Strong has been imprisoned by ACID for killing her parents, but her memories of the crime are hazy. A prison insider working with a resistance group breaks Jenna out of prison, but she is never quite sure who she can trust on the outside. She allies herself at various times with a dangerous group of rebels, Max (the son of the man who helped her escape from prison), and even top leaders of ACID. In her time on the run, Jenna faces constant danger, plastic surgery to change her appearance, and brainwashing (now known by the more polite term of "cognitive realignment") as she seeks to clear her name and regain her life. This debut novel begins with great promise, introducing a girl who is fearless and tough, a skilled fighter facing down every foe in an otherwise all-male prison. After she escapes, however, and joins a boy who is also on the run, her strong nature diminishes significantly. While the uneven character development can be explained in part by the plot device of cognitive realignment, the actions of the main characters, Jenna and Max, often seem inconsistent. Recommend this title to fans of dystopian fiction, particularly those who enjoyed Ally Condie's Matched trilogy.--Sherrie Williams. 384p. VOICE OF YOUTH ADVOCATES, c2014. |
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9780385743877,dl.it[0].title
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