Monument 14

Starred review from April 23, 2012
Actress/screenwriter Laybourne’s debut ably turns what could have been yet another postapocalyptic YA novel into a tense, claustrophobic, and fast-paced thriller. In the not-too-distant future, a sudden hailstorm—just one small part of a massive environmental cataclysm—forces 14 Colorado students on their way to school to take refuge in a superstore. Cut off from the previously ubiquitous Network (with only one old TV as an occasional information source), they must cope with the standard personality conflicts and also a biochemical weapon leak that causes behavioral shifts in some of the kids. Bookish Dean narrates, observing his own jealousies and concerns, as well as the way the popular kids—like football players Jake and Brayden, and diving champ Astrid—are forced to question their place in the new social order. Although violence (including a sexual assault) is pervasive, it’s rarely graphic and never gratuitous. Laybourne successfully develops a large cast of characters of assorted ages, and if the ending seems designed to tease a sequel, the story still stands well on its own. Ages 13–up. Agent: Susanna Einstein, Einstein Thompson Agency.

June 15, 2012
A staggering natural disaster maroons a handful of teens and younger children in a suburban Colorado big-box department store. An ordinary morning school-bus ride almost instantly goes wrong when a sudden, bizarre hailstorm wrecks Dean's bus to the high school and sends the elementary/middle school bus through the wall of a nearby Greenway. Heroically, driver Mrs. Wooly goes back to rescue the surviving high school kids and then ventures back out into the chaos for help. While the kids wait--and it will surprise no one when Mrs. Wooly fails to return--they sort out power relationships and monitor events on the outside as best they can. As the days go by, these relationships shift; not surprisingly, some kids are better at survival than others. The introduction of a couple of adults into their self-contained universe threatens the delicate balance. The storytelling takes some shortcuts. The near-future setting seems to derive mostly from the narrative necessity of keeping the lights on (solar arrays on the roof power the store); a chemical-agent cocktail that escapes NORAD conveniently manifests dramatically different symptoms depending on victims' blood types. But characterization is strong--the children emerge as fully as the teens--and narrator Dean keeps the pages turning. And there's no beating the ingenuity of the Greenway setting, where apparently everything these kids need is at their fingertips. Lord of the Flies this ain't, but it is a pretty decent adventure story, and readers will eagerly await the second volume. (Adventure. 13-16)

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November 1, 2012

Gr 9 Up-At the start of a seemingly ordinary day, Dean and his younger brother, Alex, board their separate buses on the way to school. Without warning, a killer hail rains down and sets into motion this gripping, postapocalyptic tale. From the start, Dean's voice shines and hooks readers into this compelling story. The 14 surviving students from the two school buses find shelter in a local superstore. The six high school students, including Dean, try to assume adult roles and protect and care for the younger children. Each of the teens seems to represent a different stereotype: jock, nerd, loner, popular girl, stoner, and weird girl. Once the action starts, though, the characters come into their own, growing and facing the challenges or turning within and refusing to face reality. Despite the large number of characters, readers will feel emotionally connected to these children, root for their triumphs, and grieve for their hardships. The youngsters must survive an earthquake, handle intruders, halt the effects of a chemical warfare spill, combat homesickness, and cope with the loss of the world as they knew it. They are challenged at every turn in this suspenseful and well-paced plot, yet the tale never loses its credibility. Dean's honest account is concise, clear, and riveting. A cliff-hanger ending leaves readers devastated but breathlessly awaiting the sequel. A stellar addition to any collection.Cindy Wall, Southington Library & Museum, CT

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2012
Grades 9-12 It's an unforgettable opener: a school bus is trucking along when a hailstorm begins tapping against the roofand then pounding, and then denting, and then tearing it apart. The bus crashes into a local superstore and the 14 survivors, kids of all ages, seal off the opening. A TV in the electronics department relays the increasingly bad news: a volcano eruption set off a megatsunami, which created supercell storms, one of which destroyed a NORAD facility, which released an 800-mile-wide cloud of experimental toxins into the air. The kids learn the hard way that individual reactions to exposure depend on blood type: Os become murderous, ABs hallucinate, and so on. Dean, 16, and the older kids are forced to create a workable society, one tested at every turn by dangerous drifters, internal power struggles, and raging hormones. Following the initial shock, there are few scares; Laybourne is more concerned with weaving a realistic, multicharacter survival story. It's a bit quiet a times, though the ending is a real thriller. Sounds like a sequel storm is brewing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2012
A devastating hailstorm, an earthquake, and then a dangerous chemical spill lead to a school bus of kids (teens and younger) seeking refuge in a superstore--abundant resources and no adult supervision. In this intriguing, fast-paced dystopian novel, Laybourne gradually deepens the characterization and includes some touching scenes before bringing it all to an exciting conclusion.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2012
First comes a devastating hailstorm -- enormous balls of ice and debris pelting a pair of school buses two brothers are riding. The high school bus crashes, killing many on board, but Dean and a few others get aboard the younger children's bus, which a savvy driver has driven straight into a superstore (think Walmart or Target) and relative safety. The driver leaves to look for help, but before she can return, there is an earthquake. Finally comes a chemical spill that poisons the air and causes a large segment of the population to go crazy with rage. Take Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life As We Knew It (rev. 11/06) and add a premise in which the kids get to live in a store with abundant resources, free from adult supervision, and you have the ingredients of this fast-paced teen dystopian novel. A rather formulaic premise gradually unfolds to become intriguing beyond the survival elements, as the characters must deal with choices about leadership, bullying, sex, and living with the temptations of alcohol and pharmaceuticals. Dean must also deal with the shame of having attacked his younger brother and others after coming in contact with the personality-altering chemicals. Initially, Laybourne focuses more on the disaster-building than on the characters, but she later deepens the characterization and includes some touching scenes before bringing it all to an exciting conclusion. susan dove lempke

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)