66 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ MARCH 9, 2020
Review_CHILDREN’S
historical themes of prejudice and who
tells whose stories while offering a multi-
faceted blend of contemporary and
historical intrigue. Ages 14–up. Agent:
Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary. (Apr.)Comics
Anti/Hero
Kate Karyus Quinn and Demitria Lunetta,
illus. by Maca Gil. DC Zoom, $9.99 paper
(160p) ISBN 978-1-4012-9325-3
Two dissimilar super 13-year-olds
swap bodies in this introduction to a new
East Gotham crime-fighting duo: the
Hummingbird and the Gray Owl.
Black-clad and pale-haired, loner Sloan
MacBrute—known as Gray in the
underworld—is the hyperintelligent
granddaughter of the villainous Scotsman
Bear, often working small jobs for him to
help her mother make ends meet.
Superstrong Piper Pájaro, of Latinx heri-
tage, lives with her abuela and police
officer uncle, and hopes that her superhero
alter ego—the Hummingbird—will
draw her absent
scientist par-
ents’ interest.
When each girl
sets her sights
on nabbing an
abandoned med-
ical invention
engineered by
Piper’s parents,
a body switch
reveals its dan-
gerous power. As they work to repair the
broken device and keep it from falling
into ill-intentioned hands, the girls’
forced alliance helps each develop an
appreciation for the other’s unique skills
and motivations; Sloan worries about
her ill mother and her family’s dam-
aging legacy, while Piper’s feelings of
abandonment result in rash actions.
Gil’s expressive characterization and
thoughtful use of color create a dis-
tinctly cinematic feel, akin to that of an
animated series. For these appealingly
rendered opposites, empathy and under-
standing inspires unexpected friendship
and unstoppable heroism. Ages 8–12.
(Apr.) ■May meet, they
form a real con-
nection, strong
enough that it
survives May’s
fury upon
learning Zach’s
identity.
Lawson does a
good job at
conveying how
out of control
May feels alongside her friends’ continued
love for her, and though parts of the plot
feel predictable, the book credibly depicts
the terror of “the frightening places and
the daily places” being “one and same,”
building to a tentatively hopeful ending
that feels earned. Ages 14–up. (Apr.)Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know
Samira Ahmed. Soho Teen, $18.99 (336p)
ISBN 978-1-61695-989-0
When 17-year-old Khayyam Maquet
(named after Persian poet Omar
Khayyam) and university student
Alexandre Dumas (named after the French
writer, his ancestor), meet by apparent
coincidence in Paris one August day, they
discover they share a common goal:
finding a connection between the 19th-
century Dumas and painter Eugène
Delacroix. Visiting from Chicago,
Khayyam, who is French, Indian,
American, and Muslim, wants to jump-
start her future as an art historian;
Alexandre declares that he wants to pre-
serve his family’s legacy. Short, interspersed
sections told by 19th-century Leila, the
“enslaved harem girl” whom Khayyam
believes the original Dumas loved, and
who may have inspired both a poem by
Byron and a painting by Delacroix, build
a suspenseful secondary story line. The
book’s premise is promising, the Parisian
setting enticing, and the dialogue
sharply paced. In both scholarship and
romance, Khayyam is consistently—if
somewhat overtly—cued: she’s focused
on her professional future, her anger at
the way women’s stories are elided, and
her drive to right that wrong. While the
plot development can be hard to follow,
punctuated by Khayyam’s confusion
about a love interest at home and her
feelings for Alexandre, Ahmed’s
(Internment) story succeeds in exploringThe Loop (The Loop #1)
Ben Oliver. Chicken House, $18.99 (368p)
ISBN 978-1-338-58930-6
After spending two years imprisoned in
the Loop, Luka Kane, 16, is desperate for
any change of routine or sign of hope.
Though he can stay his execution by
opting to participate in dangerous
experiments that benefit the elite, he fully
expects to die in prison, another victim of
his dystopian society, which favors the
privileged, technology-enhanced Alts (the
Altered) over the so-called Regulars.
Everything changes after Luka and his
fellow convicts are subjected to a myste-
rious treatment that kills some and drives
others mad. The survivors must now
somehow escape the Loop, but outside, the
weather spirals out of control, and people,
now feral, slaughter one another. To survive,
Luka and his dwindling band of allies must
evade capture and confront those behind
the recent happenings. In this harrowing
debut, Oliver deftly conjures an unsettling
surveillance state hallmarked by class
warfare and a nightmarish penal system
that harvests its victims’ energy as pun-
ishment. Events take on an ambiguous
tone as the story progresses, making it
difficult to tell what is real, but an
emphasis on the importance of human
connection strengthens this cinematic
series opener. Ages 14–up. Agent: Chloe
Seager, Madeleine Milburn Literary. (Apr.)The Lucky Ones
Liz Lawson. Delacorte, $18.99 (352p)
ISBN 978-0-593-11849-8
In this intense, affecting debut, May
McGintee is “one of the lucky ones,”
though she feels anything but. Back in
school for junior year, May is consumed
by survivor’s guilt: 11 months ago, she
hid in a closet as her genius twin brother
Jordan, favorite teacher, and five class-
mates were shot and killed during band
practice. Following an ineffectual stint of
homeschooling after she was kicked out of
school for fighting, this is likely May’s last
chance to graduate with her peers. Angry,
isolated, and regretting the distance
between Jordan and her when he died,
with parents who are detached themselves,
May is a mess. So is classmate Zach Teller:
his mother is the shooter’s lawyer, which
means he’s a social pariah whose house
keeps getting vandalized. When Zach and