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March 13, 2017

Race the Night

Race the Night

By: Kirsten Hubbard

Is this a post-apocalypse dystopia?  Or is it a story about a cult?

I was indecisive; it looked like a combination of both and I generally don’t like either kind…but I do like a good suspense story and believe me, this is one. It also turns out to be a story of hope, resilience, and the meaning of family.

Eider can’t forget the imagined vision of her little sister, Robin, even though Teacher and everyone else insist Robin never existed. Eider and four other children live in a desert compound that Teacher says is the last place left after the end of the world. But Eider keeps finding interesting artifacts from Before, and can’t stop herself from sneaking out of the compound and reading her hidden storybook. Even though all the children know they will receive severe punishments if they’re caught disobeying, they all have hidden their own forbidden objects.

Eider decides to concentrate on learning the extrasensory exercises that Teacher seems so intent on teaching them. But when Eider begins to suspect that Teacher also may be hiding something, she decides to escape and try to find a real town. Is that even possible, or has the world truly ended? More and more clues turn up that show Teacher may not be telling the truth.

This story kept me on the edge of my seat.

For middle grade readers.

Review By: Ellen Dworkin