Any Sign of Life

Starred review from August 16, 2021
The mechanics of coping bloom into much more in this deeply humanizing near-future survival thriller from Carson (The Empire of Dreams). White Columbus, Ohio, basketball player Paige Miller, 17, barely remembers getting sick. But when she wakes up emaciated from a six-day flu, she finds a grim scene: carrion birds, power outages, and her family dead in a world gone silent—except for one radio signal out of Sandusky. Forced onto the road with her adopted dog to find signs of life, she joins a Black premed hopeful and collegiate quarterback as well as a pale-skinned, hypervigilant asexual street artist against an increasingly alien threat: eyeless, glowing creatures with a quicksilver flying craft. As her ragged team follows the radio broadcast across Ohio, they discover a desperate attempt to survive the impending invasion—and a slim chance to fight back. Carson tempers a grim, death-laced future with pragmatism, an athlete’s awareness of bodily limits, and an uplifting belief in people’s capacity for good. Fans of Megan Crewe and Susan Beth Pfeffer will relish this timely update to classic postapocalyptic YA. Ages 13–up. Agent: Holly Root, Waxman Leavell.

September 1, 2021

Gr 8 Up-An apocalyptic first contact novel in the vein of The 5th Wave and The Walking Dead. Paige Miller goes to bed with flulike symptoms and wakes up six days later, the only one in her house still alive. One moment Paige's highest priorities are basketball and state titles, the next they're finding anyone still alive and getting some answers. Paige collects an eclectic and diverse group of survivors as she dodges drones and tries to figure out what happened. The flu that destroyed Earth was a biological weapon, and the enemy is alien. Carson has crafted an apocalypse so real it could happen tomorrow; references to COVID-19 and politics ground the story in a contemporary atmosphere without strictly dating the novel. With high stakes and a fast-paced survival plot line, sharp prose carries the novel when the characters feel distant and the revelations come too fast. The author attempts, with varying success, to work in issues of race and class. Paige is white, and the side characters include Black, Latinx, and asexual identities on the page. VERDICT Vivid and well-crafted, this pandemic-adjacent survival story may hit a little close too home this year. Carson's relentlessly action-packed dystopian is a secondary purchase.-Emmy Neal, Lake Forest Lib., IL

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2021
High school senior and WNBA hopeful Paige wakes up from a coma to find herself the only living person in her Columbus, Ohio, neighborhood. What happens next is not for the faint of heart: Dead, decomposing bodies--beginning with Paige's own family--litter the pages of this smart, suspenseful thriller. All Paige knows is that she went to bed with the flu one night and woke up six days later, severely dehydrated, to a changed world. She learns from a prerecorded radio broadcast that the flu that hit Columbus harder than usual became a national emergency, but as she works to regain her strength and gather supplies, she remembers the coronavirus pandemic of her childhood and realizes how improbable it is that people in multiple cities naturally caught the flu and died so quickly. She's cautiously thrilled to find two other living teens: former high school football star Trey, a would-be pre-med student, and Tanq, an asexual teen girl who is an artist. Together they set out toward Lake Erie hoping to reach fellow survivors Manny and Wyatt--whose live radio broadcasts promise answers--before their unknown enemy finds them. Paige's tenacity is appealing, and her relatable first-person narration shines when observing tiny details of her surroundings and matter-of-factly processing topics like privilege, menstruation, and reproductive rights. Trey is Black, and Manny is Puerto Rican; all other major characters are White. Suspenseful and totally un-put-down-able--with a clear opening for a sequel. (Science fiction. 13-18)

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 7, 2021
Grades 9-12 As soon as Paige Miller wakes with a pulsing headache and parched mouth, she knows something's wrong. Turns out she's been in a coma for six days, and in that time, humankind was wiped out by a virus, her family included. With feral animals roaming the streets, the outside of her Ohio hometown isn't much better, but at least she has her neighbor's dog, Emmaline, to keep her company. Eventually, Paige comes across other survivors, Trey and Tanq, and they follow a lead to Sandusky for answers. The truth, however, about why they survived, where the virus came from, and what the future holds may not be something they're ready for. Carson has created a terrifying postapocalyptic world marred by the scent of rotting flesh and a threatening new entity. The pacing is strong until the teens arrive in Sandusky, where racism is dealt with clumsily, and there's a lot of explanatory exposition all at once. As we deal with our own pandemic, more stories such as this are sure to have readers thinking about their own purposes, impacts, and legacies.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2021
Ohio high school senior Paige wakes up from what she thought was just a bout of flu to discover that the sickness she has lived through seems to have killed off everyone else. While a series of explosions tears through her neighborhood, she scavenges supplies, grabs her neighbor's dog, and flees. She eventually meets survivors Trey and Tanq, and they team up to protect themselves from the nonhuman creatures that are turning up among the wreckage. The three make their way from Columbus to Sandusky, where transmissions from a pirate radio station offer hope. The broadcasters explain that the sickness is a bioweapon used by invading aliens, and they all decide to fight back. Carson (Walk on Earth a Stranger, rev. 9/15, and sequels) delivers a solid end-of-the-world thriller full of vivid imagery and strong emotions. Paige and Trey, both talented athletes, mourn the loss of their families and the futures they had planned, while each taking their own day-to-day approach to the extreme situation. Small details -- Paige's basic needs include tampons as well as food and water; the group drives a 1987 El Camino -- and a clear sense of place bring the story to life. Identity issues are naturally incorporated into the narrative, showing that race and sexuality (Trey, who's Black, faces microaggressions; asexual Tanq worries she'll be expected to help re-populate the world) still matter even as humanity is struggling to survive. Sarah Rettger

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2021
Ohio high school senior Paige wakes up from what she thought was just a bout of flu to discover that the sickness she has lived through seems to have killed off everyone else. While a series of explosions tears through her neighborhood, she scavenges supplies, grabs her neighbor's dog, and flees. She eventually meets survivors Trey and Tanq, and they team up to protect themselves from the nonhuman creatures that are turning up among the wreckage. The three make their way from Columbus to Sandusky, where transmissions from a pirate radio station offer hope. The broadcasters explain that the sickness is a bioweapon used by invading aliens, and they all decide to fight back. Carson (Walk on Earth a Stranger, rev. 9/15, and sequels) delivers a solid end-of-the-world thriller full of vivid imagery and strong emotions. Paige and Trey, both talented athletes, mourn the loss of their families and the futures they had planned, while each taking their own day-to-day approach to the extreme situation. Small details -- Paige's basic needs include tampons as well as food and water; the group drives a 1987 El Camino -- and a clear sense of place bring the story to life. Identity issues are naturally incorporated into the narrative, showing that race and sexuality (Trey, who's Black, faces microaggressions; asexual Tanq worries she'll be expected to help re-populate the world) still matter even as humanity is struggling to survive.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)