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After the Red Rain
Author:
Lyga, Barry
CoAuthor:
DeFranco, Rob
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Facinelli, Peter
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Class:
Fiction
Age: 14-19
Language: English
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LC: PZ7.L979
Grade: 9-12
Print Run: 50000
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ISBN-13: 9780316406031
LCCN: 2014036677
Imprint: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
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Pub Date: 08/04/2015
Availability: Available
List: $18.00
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Hardcover
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Physical Description:
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392 pages ; 22 cm
H 8.5",
W 5.75",
D 1.25",
1.14 lbs.
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LC Series:
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Brodart Sources:
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Brodart's For Youth Interest Titles
Brodart's For Youth Interest: Popular
Brodart's Insight Catalog: Teen
Brodart's TOP Young Adult Titles
Brodart's YA Reads for Adults
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Bibliographies:
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Booklist High-Demand Hot List
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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
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BISAC Subjects: |
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Social Themes / Dating & Sex
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Action & Adventure / General
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Dystopian
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LC Subjects:
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Murder, Fiction
Murder, Juvenile fiction
Science fiction
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SEARS Subjects: |
Homicide, Fiction
Science fiction
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Reading Programs: |
Accelerated Reader Level:
5.2
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Points: 16.0
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| Annotations |
| Brodart's TOP Young Adult Titles | 07/01/2015 |
| Earth is dying, its 50 billion inhabitants stuck in megacities as resources rapidly dwindle. Working for the Magistrate means a miserable existence for hard-working Deedra. When she helps a boy named Rose try to cross the river, Deedra realizes the mysterious boy's special abilities might be the key to saving a world that might not be dying after all. 400pp. |
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| Journal Reviews |
| Booklist | 05/15/2015 |
| Grades 8-11. Lyga's foray into the popular genre of dystopian romance seems tailored to be a blockbuster (especially since his collaborators are actor Peter Facinelli and producer Robert DeFranco). Though it hits genre conventions hard, it's well written and unusual enough to stand out. In earth's future, long after the planet's ruin and mass species extinction, people live in cramped, perpetually warring Territories. After a hard childhood in an orphanage, Deedra is proud to be supporting herself with factory work building air scrubbers and going on scavenging forays into the crumbling cityscape called the Wreck. One day she rescues a boy struggling to cross a poisoned river. He calls himself Rose, and everything about him is strange: he is too pretty and perfect, without a Territory brand, and inexplicably living off the denuded land. He thinks differently from everyone else, too, which puts him and Deedra in danger. Rose's true genetic nature is unexpectedly novel, and that--combined with striking imagery, thrilling action, and adolescent true love--makes this a sure bet. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling Lyga gets his mitts on dystopian romance? Better get two. Hutley, Krista. 400p. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2015. |
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| Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books | 10/01/2015 |
| Ad. Gr. 8-10. In this movie-ready novel (logical given the collaboration of Lyga with actor Facinelli and film producer DeFranco), the world as we know it long gone, and what remains is grim. There are awful secrets about how fifty billion people died and what happened to the Earth afterwards, but Deedra doesn't, initially, know anything about that; she just knows if she doesn't work and scavenge, she won't eat or survive. After she meets Rose, a mysterious and gorgeous guy unlike anyone she's ever known, things begin to fall apart in her previously predictable, if awful, world. Rose is perhaps the most intriguing element about this messy novel, as his origins, while absurdly out of the range of any realistic science, are creatively described and slowly revealed in tantalizing layers. Unfortunately, the villains are profoundly unsubtle, and issues of moral complexity are as flat as their characterization. In addition, while it is perhaps realistic that Deedra, an orphan in a world that has taught her almost nothing, would be rather slow to sort out the truth behind the lies, it's tiring that she circles back multiple times to what she used to believe, even in the face of obvious hints that she is oh, so wrong. Even so, readers who appreciate an apocalypse that truly feels like one, with massive numbers of dead, complete upheavals, and inevitable dystopian restructuring, may well find this compelling enough to keep an eye out for the likely sequel. AS. 400p. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIV. OF ILLINOIS, c2015. |
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| Horn Book Guide | 11/01/2016 |
| 4. On a scavenging run, orphaned teenager Deedra saves an unusual boy named Rose from drowning. Rose soon influences all aspects of Deedra's life, including her factory job and government-bred beliefs, and she grapples with his mutant-like powers and status as a murder suspect. The relationship between the protagonists is unconvincing, but the authors enliven a believable post-apocalyptic dystopia with moments of blockbuster action. jm. 392pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2016. |
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| Kirkus Reviews | 06/01/2015 |
| Lyga (Blood of My Blood, 2014, etc.) is joined by actor Facinelli and film producer DeFranco for this post-apocalyptic novel. In the distant, environmentally devastated future, orphan Deedra's a factory worker and sometime scavenger. During a scrounging trip, she encounters the most beautiful boy she's ever seen; incredibly, Rose lacks the scars and callouses that mark everybody else. After their brief, mysterious encounter, she can't get him off of her mind. Lucky for her, he feels the same, reappearing just in time to rescue her from a highly placed would-be rapist, magistrate's son and factory overseer Jaron. As Deedra learns about Rose's mysterious abilities, she eventually discovers his true nature--it's an implausible abuse of science, but at least it's original. When Jaron is mysteriously and brutally murdered, suspicion turns to outsider Rose, and even Deedra has doubts about his innocence. Jaron's murder sends his father--an all-powerful, cartoonishly evil dictator--on a witch hunt against Rose and toward war. Interesting themes--the elimination of history as social control and philosophy of utilitarianism vs. individual rights--are clumsily overstated and lack subtlety. The worldbuilding, even in the context of the cultural blank slate, is too weak to sustain the story. The prose alternates between choppy and frustratingly repetitive. The ending promises a sequel. Give these cardboard characters and their ludicrous plot a miss. (Post-apocalyptic romance. 14 & up). 400pg. KIRKUS MEDIA LLC, c2015. |
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| Publishers Weekly | 05/25/2015 |
| Ages 15-up. In the far-off future, humankind has so ravaged the planet that plants and other life forms are nearly extinct. While a corrupt government exercises control over its remaining citizens, a strange boy named Rose turns up in 16-year-old Deedra's home territory and inspires a quiet uprising that has her questioning everything, from the machines she builds at her factory job to the news provided via "wikinet" feed. The dystopian setting bears disturbing similarities to the modern world, serving as a cautionary tale about our own lasting impact on the planet. While the authors paint a frighteningly believable landscape, the characters remain opaque. Deedra, forced to be independent since her orphanage shut down when she was 12, becomes suddenly and inextricably dependent on Rose soon after meeting him. Their magnetic attraction also comes at a cost to Deedra's heretofore best friend, Lissa, who--despite her own harrowing subplot--is all but forgotten. Loose ends and unanswered questions leave room for future books. Agent:Kathleen Anderson, Anderson Literary Management, and Steve Fisher, APA Talent and Literary Agency. (Aug.). 400p. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2015. |
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| School Library Journal | 05/01/2015 |
| Gr 9 Up. Facinelli, aka Dr. Carisle Cullen from the "Twilight" movies, and producer DeFranco team up with YA author Lyga to create a powerful postapocalyptic novel. This particular version of the future is so far post the apocalypse that no one can remember how exactly they got there, though theories abound, most of them involving a "red rain" that may or may not have killed half of the world's population. The main character, Deedra, was raised in an orphanage and now leads a plodding, government-controlled existence working in a factory and scavenging on her days off. It is on one of these trips that she meets the oddly named Rose, a boy her age who seems to have come from nowhere and is completely different from anyone she's ever met. When Rose's true nature is revealed--not a vampire or robot but something far stranger and more interesting--Deedra realizes that he may be the key to saving their dying world. She just needs to save him first. The story moves along without feeling rushed, and with the exception of the scenery-chewing magistrate, characters are fully formed and subtly drawn. VERDICT Not just another dystopia: strong characters and adept world-building make this work stand out from the crowd. Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MA. 400p. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2015. |
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| ~VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine - Retired Journal) | 06/01/2015 |
| 3Q 3P J S. In a postapocalyptic Earth, where billions attempt to eke out some kind of existence amid the ruins of the previous civilization, Deedra is just one of countless others. An orphan and former ward of the state, she exists by working in the local factory, making what she thinks are air scrubbers. When she is not in the factory, she scavenges the ruins, exploring long-vacant buildings and daring to hold onto the glimmer of a dream that things might be different. All of this changes when, on one of her scavenging trips, she encounters a mysterious boy named Rose, who appears to have strange abilities far beyond her understanding. As she is drawn to Rose, she begins to discover the mysteries that surround him, mysteries that could lead to a fundamental change in the way the world runs. This story is told from a variety of perspectives. Although Deedra and Rose are the most prominent, the reader also gets to experience the perspectives of an absent-minded scientist, an abusive magistrate, an inspector trying to do his job, and others. The postapocalyptic setting treads no new ground, and would be familiar those who have read works like Divergent or The Hunger Games. The plot is somewhat formulaic; astute readers should be able to figure out most of the major points long before the characters do. Nonetheless, the story is well written and manages to engage the reader throughout. The book deals with issues of friendship, love, and rebellion against authority. The conclusion leaves the door open for further installments. Overall, it is solidly written and would be a decent addition to most high school libraries.--Jonathan Ryder. After the Red Rain is very exciting and entertaining to read. The mystery behind each character's individual story keeps readers motivated to read throughout the whole novel. Readers may have a hard getting into the story in the beginning, but after learning about the important settings of the story, readers will be focused on the plot, which is really interesting. The end leaves many questions unanswered, but that just leaves readers wanting more. 4Q, 4P.--Christina Chau, Teen Reviewer. 400p. VOICE OF YOUTH ADVOCATES, c2015. |
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