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The Factory

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Step inside the Factory in this suspenseful exploration of power, exploitation, and the nature of time that Kirkus calls a "gripping, fast-paced story with a cliffhanger ending," and a "complex beginning to what will surely be a sought-after series"!

Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle is no stranger to misfortune. Bullied at school and struggling with problems at home, he dreams of the day he can leave it all behind him. That's when he receives an unexpected opportunity: an invitation to join the Factory — a top-secret research facility that's supposedly developing renewable energy — and Asher will be paid handsomely for his participation. It seems like the answer to all his problems.

But not everything is as it seems at the Factory. The other kids in the program are tired and sullen, almost as if they've had the life sucked out of them, and the staff members are clearly hiding something. What's more, Asher discovers he wasn't chosen at random; someone in the program desperately wants him to participate. Asher can't help but feel that whatever the Factory is doing, it's not what he or any of the other kids signed up for.

To Asher's horror, it turns out that the Factory isn't developing renewable energy at all. So what is the Factory up to, more important, why? As conditions in the Factory worsen, Asher must team up with the other kids to uncover the sinister truth behind the experiment — and his personal connection to it — before someone gets seriously hurt.

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    • School Library Journal

      December 1, 2024

      Gr 4-6-Egan crafts a new science fiction novel with a suspenseful and original story. Thirteen-year-old Asher has grown up in a world wrecked by climate change and takes the chance to change his family's financial situation in a government-run experiment at a place known only as The Factory. There he joins a diverse group of youth desperate to earn income for their family. As kids start to suffer increasingly severe effects from the experiments, they must work together to find the truth and a way out. Egan does an excellent job of balancing worldbuilding, plot, and character development. The world presented through school lessons and character backstories is one of severe climate devastation and economic inequality. The cast of characters, primarily the children, is diverse in that it includes multiple ethnicities. While the point of view is Asher's, the other characters' histories, motivations, and personalities are developed enough that readers will be invested in them. This rich worldbuilding and character development carries through the slower paced first portion of the book until readers are rewarded with an increasingly fast-paced and tightly plotted final third that is hard to put down. The cliffhanger ending will leave readers eager for the next book. VERDICT Readers will devour this middle grade cli-fi adventure with excellent characters and a fascinating concept.-Elizabeth Nicolai

      Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Kirkus

      December 1, 2024
      An innovative renewable energy facility turns out to have a sinister side. When Asher Doyle's mom finds herself in inescapable, "terrifying debt," his absentee father--a married senator with a vested interest in keeping Asher's existence under wraps--has a solution. He'll send Asher, who reads white, to live at the Factory, a top-secret experimental program ostensibly designed to create "Clean Energy for Future Generations!" by harnessing people's electromagnetic energy. The program promises a fun, camplike experience for kids ages 11 to 15, and the compensation for Asher's participation will help his mom and grandmother. Upon arrival, however, the participants are greeted by armed guards and steel fences topped with barbed wire, a significant contrast to the enthusiastic promotional materials. It quickly becomes clear that the Factory is dangerous and full of secrets. The staff won't provide meaningful answers to questions, and not only does the extraction procedure appear unsafe; it's also excruciatingly painful. As the procedures continue, kids start disappearing, and Asher and his new friends Faith, Vi, and Troy (cued Black, Chinese American, and Latine, respectively) find themselves in a race for survival. The central characters are rich and interesting, with deep motivations, and their friendships are compelling and emotional. Budding dystopian and science-fiction readers will thrill at this gripping, fast-paced story with a cliffhanger ending. A thrilling and complex beginning to what will surely be a sought-after series.(Dystopian. 10-14)

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Booklist

      December 1, 2024
      Grades 4-7 Asher is anxious about accepting a coveted spot at the Factory, but he doesn't have much of a choice. Climate change has rocked the planet, and the Factory holds the promise of a good education, nourishing meals, and piles of money. The only requirement is that he take part in a top-secret renewable-energy experiment that focuses on harnessing energy from the human body. It quickly becomes obvious, though, that the Factory is more fortress than educational facility. Asher and a handful of newfound friends are certain that the program holds terrible secrets, and they'll have to risk it all to reveal the truth and save their own lives. The suspenseful series opener is a thriller from the start, and the weather-ravaged world feels particularly authentic. Though there is plenty of action, the sf story also takes time to explore Asher's intriguing inner world and establish the motivations of those around him. The diverse cast of characters, terrific tension, and startling ending will have readers eagerly awaiting the next installment of this prescient page-turner.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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