Exodus
by Julie Bertagna
by Julie Bertagna
EXODUS by Julie Bertagna
Category: Science Fiction
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 4/1/08
Publisher: Walker Books
Reviewed by: JodiG.
Rating: 5 Stars
What if everything you’ve heard about global warming is true -- and we haven’t done enough to change the course of
events?
Mara is a fifteen-year-old girl who lives on the island of Wing. The polar ice caps are melting, flooding most of the earth.
What is left of Mara’s primitive island is rapidly being claimed by the rising tide. Among the ruins of an abandoned
cyberworld Mara meets another, someone who promises her that there is a safe haven in the New World.
Mara convinces the people of her island that their only chance for survival is to sail north, where the sky cities can provide
shelter against the rising storms and tides. However, they arrive to find that walls have been built around the city and that
they are just a few of the refugees who are gathered around, hoping for entry. Life in the boat camp is a grim existence.
Illness, hunger and death have penetrated the lives of Mara’s group. Overwhelmed with guilt, Mara sets out to find a way
to save her friends.
With a little help, Mara makes her way inside the gates and sets about to infiltrate the New World city of New Mungo.
How can one girl face such insurmountable odds and save her people against a formidable adversary? Can she really take
on an entire city to save her friends? If only she could find her cyberworld acquaintance, maybe he could help Mara.
EXODUS is a sobering reminder of the future we face if global warming is allowed to continue unchallenged. Julie
Bertagna has presented a somber picture of what life may be like in the year 2099. She has balanced desperation with the
enduring power of hope. When humans have hope, no challenge seems too difficult to face. The stark subject of the story
is balanced with a fluid writing style that keeps you turning the pages and hoping for the best. EXODUS is already an
international best seller and is being released to US readers in April 2008.
This is one of those stories that will stay with you forever.
Category: Science Fiction
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 4/1/08
Publisher: Walker Books
Reviewed by: JodiG.
Rating: 5 Stars
What if everything you’ve heard about global warming is true -- and we haven’t done enough to change the course of
events?
Mara is a fifteen-year-old girl who lives on the island of Wing. The polar ice caps are melting, flooding most of the earth.
What is left of Mara’s primitive island is rapidly being claimed by the rising tide. Among the ruins of an abandoned
cyberworld Mara meets another, someone who promises her that there is a safe haven in the New World.
Mara convinces the people of her island that their only chance for survival is to sail north, where the sky cities can provide
shelter against the rising storms and tides. However, they arrive to find that walls have been built around the city and that
they are just a few of the refugees who are gathered around, hoping for entry. Life in the boat camp is a grim existence.
Illness, hunger and death have penetrated the lives of Mara’s group. Overwhelmed with guilt, Mara sets out to find a way
to save her friends.
With a little help, Mara makes her way inside the gates and sets about to infiltrate the New World city of New Mungo.
How can one girl face such insurmountable odds and save her people against a formidable adversary? Can she really take
on an entire city to save her friends? If only she could find her cyberworld acquaintance, maybe he could help Mara.
EXODUS is a sobering reminder of the future we face if global warming is allowed to continue unchallenged. Julie
Bertagna has presented a somber picture of what life may be like in the year 2099. She has balanced desperation with the
enduring power of hope. When humans have hope, no challenge seems too difficult to face. The stark subject of the story
is balanced with a fluid writing style that keeps you turning the pages and hoping for the best. EXODUS is already an
international best seller and is being released to US readers in April 2008.
This is one of those stories that will stay with you forever.