It's the middle of August and back-to-school is on the minds of, well, probably all of us. If you're looking for a great YAL story to distract you from the lesson planning, classroom organizing, and other to-do items on your list, then look no further than Dr. Bentley's next sci-fi suggestion. Happy reading, all!
 Erinn Bentley | Dr. Erinn Bentley is a professor of English education at Columbus State University, where she also serves as the Associate Director of the Center for Global Engagement. She enjoys mentoring pre-service secondary English teachers, graduate students, and her doctoral candidates. In addition to teaching YA literature and pedagogy courses, Erinn leads study abroad programs for education majors in Belize, Ecuador, England, and Japan. In her free time, you’ll probably find her on a robotics field mentoring FIRST teams as part of the Columbus Space Program. |
Lifelik3 by Jay Kristoff
 Jay Kristoff | As you may have noticed from past posts, I’m currently fascinated with YA sci-fi novels. Continuing with this genre, I am excited to recommend Jay Kristoff’s Lifelik3 as this weekend’s pic. This novel opens with seventeen-year-old Evie, her gal-pal Lemon, and her grandfather Silas fighting to survive on a post-apocalyptic Earth, where humans coexist with robots (though not always harmoniously). When Evie discovers a mysterious “lifelike” android named Ezekial, everything changes. Silas is kidnapped, sending Evie on a rescue mission accompanied by Lemon, Ezekiel, and her robot sidekick, Cricket. These unlikely heroes battle sea creatures, cyborg assassins, deadly robot hounds, and glasstorms in a nonstop trek across dangerous terrain. Along the way, Evie slowly recovers buried memories, making her question her identity, her past, and her current relationships with humans and the beautiful android. |
| This novel keeps readers’ attention by alternating between action-packed scenes and cryptic flashbacks from Evie’s past. Throughout the novel, neither the protagonist nor the reader can quite figure out just who she is: “The walls were crashing in. Two lives, colliding like stars inside her mind. The life she knew – the life of Evie Carpenter. Domefighter. Top-tier botdoc. A skinny little scavvergirl eking out a living on the island of Dregs. And someone else. Another girl entirely. A virtual princess in a gleaming white tower, looming over a city now dead and abandoned.” Evie must decide: Did the past define her? Should she embrace her current self? Or, could she become someone new? To some extent, these are questions adolescent readers themselves consider as they navigate challenges in their lives. |  |
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