It’s fun working in a bookstore and getting ARCs! (The pre-publication galley.) We can read what will be coming out in the next few months, ahead of the general reader. Recently I read, “When We Wake” by Karen Healey. It’s advertised as a Young Adult book—for 12 year-olds and up, but I find that surprising. It feels more appropriate for older teens. Themes about global warming, sexuality, and governmental controls seem a bit advanced for the younger reader.
The narrator, Tegan is 16, and she has just woken up in a hospital, a hundred years after she was killed by a terrorist’s bullet that was meant for someone else. She has to figure out how to survive in this strange world, where many of the rules have changed. She also has to discover why she was cryonically frozen—and why they have revived her and no one else. Strong writing and a strong plot will keep you turning the pages.