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Overview
First, we feared them. Then we fought them. Now they might be our only hope.
Sixteen-year-old Lyric Walker's life is forever changed when she witnesses the arrival of 30,000 Alpha, a five-nation race of ocean-dwelling warriors, on her beach in Coney Island. The world's initial wonder and awe over the Alpha quickly turns ugly and paranoid and violent, and Lyric's small town transforms into a military zone with humans on one side and Alpha on the other. When Lyric is recruited to help the crown prince, a boy named Fathom, assimilate, she begins to fall for him. But their love is a dangerous one, and there are forces on both sides working to keep them apart. Only, what if the Alpha are not actually the enemy? What if they are in fact humanity's best chance for survival? Because the real enemy is coming. And it's more terrifying than anything the world has ever seen. Action, suspense, and romance whirlpool dangerously in this cinematic sagaDetails
- ISBN-13: 9780544348257
- ISBN-10: 0544348257
- Publisher: Clarion Books
- Publish Date: May 2015
- Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.4 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.05 pounds
- Page Count: 384
- Reading Level: Ages 12-UP
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BookPage® Reviews
A new species on shore
In the powerful first installment of a new trilogy from Michael Buckley, species collide in this sci-fi tale infused with emotionally charged themes of immigration and xenophobia.
Lyric Walker and her family live in “Fish City,” Coney Island’s nickname since the arrival of the Alpha, aquatic humanoids that emerged on the shore three years ago. With Alpha looting the city by night and human gangs retaliating with extreme violence, Lyric’s neighborhood is under martial law. Lyric’s father is a policeman, but it’s not a sense of duty that keeps the Walker family in Fish City; they’re guarding a secret that makes passing the checkpoint impossible.
Despite protests, the president has ordered Coney Island to allow Alpha children into public schools. Lyric’s mysterious new principal assigns her a dangerous task: befriending Fathom, the handsome but deadly Alpha prince, in hopes that their relationship will influence other students and quell the interspecies brutality. As Lyric defends herself against mistrust from both sides, she is pulled into the heart of the integration conflict and drawn perilously closer to Fathom.
Buckley delicately mirrors two cultures steeped in violence, subtly indicating parallels between the novel’s world and our own. Well-plotted and containing one of the most beautifully written family relationships in recent YA fiction, Undertow’s execution is as captivating as its premise.
This article was originally published in the May 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
