Horizon by Scott Westerfeld book review by Klaudia Janek

Summary: This is the first book in a planned 7 book series. Author Scott Westerfeld came up with the idea and wrote the outline. He also wrote the first book. The main characters include Molly, Javier, Anna, Oliver, Caleb, Yoshi, Kira and Akiko and we meet them as they are flying to Japan. Some of the characters are part of Team Killbot and they are headed to a robotics competition. They are on Aero Horizon Flight 16 and when the plane goes down, they are somewhere over the Arctic Circle. When the survivors gather, they notice they are in a jungle as opposed to the Arctic and their surroundings do not resemble plants and animals typically found on earth. They focus on pulling together and surviving. They also have to keep their emotions in check because the plane had 500 people on it and they cannot let grief consume them. 

Straight Talk for Librarians: I have to admit that I have had this book in my TBR pile for a while now. As a reader, I just did not feel ready to delve into a series. While I love the author, I did not want to be disappointed by a formulaic series. Well...I can tell you that this is NOT a formulaic series. It is SO good that I have not been able to stop thinking about it. The world building is outstanding and Westerfeld lives up to the amazing world building in his other books. The characters are deep as well as diverse. Kira and Akiko speak only Japanese and French. They cannot communicate with the others in English, so Yoshi who is half Japanese and half Caucasian American has to be the translator. A job he does not relish. They all have interesting backstories. The characters who are on the robotics team have a lot of engineering skills. Anna is a good example of a character who is being developed to not being very good with people and emotions. However, her science knowledge and analytical skills are very useful to the group and to survival. 

There is definitely mystery, adventure, suspense, danger and death. Nothing is too graphic, so most younger readers will be ok. With this first book, readers will be trying to figure out if they are on earth or somehow got transported to a different planet. This is a multiplatform series, so each book has a clue for the online game that can be accessed through Scholastic’s website or with a downloadable app. The covers are appealing to all kinds of readers. The planned variety of authors has me excited to continue the series. I think this series is a good addition to a middle-grade school library.

Author's Twitter: @ScottWesterfeld

Author's Website: https://scottwesterfeld.com/

Publisher's Twitter: @scholastic

Author Agent: @JillGrinbergLit

Play the game: https://kids.scholastic.com/kids/books/horizon/

Reviewer's Twitter: @kjanek