Book review: Sky Jumpers

Those of you who know our family well know we are readers through and through.  I'm constantly on the lookout for good books for all of us, and especially for Zach.  He is 11, an avid reader.  He loves, loves sci-fi/fantasy/futuristic and always has.  Finding interesting, imaginative literature for him is much easier than it would have been when I was a kid, but can still be a challenge given the volume he reads.  I want to fire the imagination but stay away from more adult topics.  I love how the young adult genre has really taken off with sci-fi, but along with the range in stories they have also taken a turn towards much more adult topics younger IMHO versus what I experienced at his age.  So, prereading is more necessary.  But that is okay as I love a lot of the newer authors too!  :)

This book is a start of a new series (yippie for series!).  It is a creative, imaginative, post-world war/new world story with a daring feminine lead.  I really like post WWIII-type literature, when the remaining humans need to recreate their world, and this is a good one.  Jumpers in the title refers to jumping off into toxic air left post bombing in their new world, with different chemical and physical properties than air typically would have.  Fun "science" is brought into this book, adding to the interest.  The author of this one has a community of inventors and creative people, but even so our lead heroine is different from the others.  As in a lot of young adult literature, she needs to find the place where she fits into her community in a positive way, where she can be an individual and make a difference.  I love how that comes about.  I would happily recommend this to middle school readers, including my own sons.  It captures the imagination from the very first page.  I'll be looking for more in the series for my kids for sure.

This copy I received from netgalley for an honest review.