Release
Date: August 5, 2014
Publisher:
Random House
ISBN:
978-0385744027
ARC Source: Random House
In the last four
years, we have seen two ferocious females take center stage in YA dystopian
literature. Katniss Everdeen of The
Hunger Games displayed both vulnerability and skill, and Tris Prior of Divergent illustrated compassion and change.
Both girls, however, came to us pretty well put together, at least by
Hollywood’s standards. Now, Austin Aslan brings us Leilani, a half Hawaiian,
half white, sixteen year old girl with epilepsy who must travel from Hilo,
Hawaii to Honolulu with her father, Mike, for a possible new treatment. Upon
arrival, the world is shaken and thrown into chaos, and Leilani and her father
must find their way home.
Leilani is a heroine that many girls can aspire to
emulate. After the world loses its technological capabilities, Leilani and her
father realize that getting home will be much harder than anticipated. There
are no commercial flights, and the few private flights cost too much and are
too dangerous. At first worried about her epileptic fits, Leilani must learn to
control herself both mentally and physically in order to make it home to her mother,
brother, and grandfather…and to decode the messages that she is receiving while
she is unconscious.
Aslan’s island adventure not only provides enough
drama in following Leilani’s journey home and watching her learn how to listen
to her heritage, but it also shows off Aslan’s own time spent in Hawaii. This
setting is as authentic as they come, and I enjoyed learning new terminology
and the values of another culture. We don’t often stop to consider Hawaii’s
geography, and the book is successful at not feeling like a college lecture in
cities and maps. It’s easy to think about getting from point A to point B when
there are no tsunamis involved and the world hasn’t been stopped in its tracks.
Leilani is the new face of dystopian literature, showing that not every teen girl needs to be the perfect girl-next-door type to
change the world.
