Wasteland

Written by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan

Narrated by Laura Knight Keating

Fans of the Divergent and Hunger Games series will love Wasteland, the first installment of the Wasteland trilogy, by five-time Emmy Award–nominated writer Susan Kim and Edgar Award–winning Laurence Klavan. With heart-pounding thrills, this harrowing survival story is alive with action and intrigue. Welcome to the Wasteland, a post-apocalyptic U.S. where no one lives past the age of 19. But an early death isn’t the only doom waiting around the corner: Everyone is forced to live under the looming threat of rampant disease and brutal attacks by the variants—hermaphroditic outcasts that live on the outskirts of Prin.

Esther doesn’t care that her best friend, a variant, is considered “the enemy.” She doesn’t care that Levi, who controls the Source, is the real enemy and might send his Taser boys after her if she makes one wrong move. Then she meets Caleb, and just possibly, she might have a chance at salvation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9780062234292

Susan Kim

Susan Kim & Laurence Klavan cowrote the graphic novels City of Spies and Brain Camp. Susan is also a five-time Emmy nominee for her work in children's television and a Writers Guild Award winner for best documentary. She wrote the stage adaptation of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, teaches writing at Goddard College, and is a blogger for the Huffington Post. When she was growing up, her family moved a lot, and the combination of being a) shy, b) the constant new kid, and c) the only Asian meant she was often picked on. In Guardians, she explores her thoughts and feelings about not just bullies but how others deal with them . . . and learn to stand up for themselves. Laurence has also written the novels The Cutting Room, The Shooting Script, and the Edgar Award-winning Mrs. White and a short-story collection, The Family Unit and Other Fantasies. He received two Drama Desk nominations for the book and lyrics to Bed and Sofa, a musical produced by New York's Vineyard Theatre. Laurence was the baby in his family, the youngest of four brothers; even his twin brother was two minutes older. He learned that having little expected of you can be a source of power. So does Esther in Guardians: she has to finally accept being a leader of people before it's too late. She is sixteen, after all.

Reviews for Wasteland

[crowyhead · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A strange, at times confusing novel. The language is beautiful, but in the end I was left a little unsatisfied. Still, in many ways this is much better than Block's other recent novels.

[ekanderson_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Told nonlinearly in three alternating perspectives — with only clues in the text to indicate which character is narrating — Wasteland is an ethereal story of Marina — who shares a strangely close relationship with her brother — and of the two boys who love her, brother included. With a 1970s L.A. as a backdrop, WASTELAND explores a topic that is usually left untouched and considered taboo without losing focus on her characters or being overtly shocking. Her language, as always, is selectively chosen word by word and while at times the nonlinear narrative is difficult to follow, the reader is easily enough wrapped up in Marina’s world. This is a book that resonates with you, that refuses to be put down without making an impact. The possibilty for self-destruction, teetering on the edge of discovering oneself in spite of tragedy, is so real and disorienting that the story commands you to listen.

[satyridae · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Block keeps knocking me out, showing rather than telling. She captures the adolescent voice, to my mind, perfectly. This small book is pure, inevitable tragedy, and I came out of it blinking at the light. Strong subtext of incest, so not for the squeamish. Block's writing is hypnotic, otherworldly, and translucent like an isinglass window in an old stove. There is so much going on offstage that she captures in a few seemingly throw-away lines that it's hardly noticeable until the end, when everything comes together and the fully fleshed out characters are in one's head, whole. Breathtaking.

[xicanti_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a book about dealing with love and loss when neither is socially acceptable. Like many of Ms. Block's books, Wasteland employs a fragmented, vignette-style narrative structure, allowing the story to unfold subtley via a series of short, emotional bursts. Sometimes this style works beautifully; sometimes it doesn't. Here, it didn't quite work. The novel was nicely set out, with good pacing, a lot going on beneath the surface, and a satisfying amount of tension, but somehow it failed to plumb the emotional depths that Ms. Block's work usually reaches. It's not a bad book, but it's by no means her best work.

[hrawluk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a story about a brother (Lex) and sister (Marina) and the bond they share. When Lex dies, we watch as Marina looses herself to grief. During her struggle the siblings mutual friend West tries to help her come to terms with the loss.

I love the poetic language that Francesca Lia Block uses. The way she describes the thoughts of each character is so beautifully written. I do, however, feel like the ending was just thrown in there. I still enjoyed the book nonetheless.

[alwaysyaatheart · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In this post apocalyptic novel every day is a struggle for survival. Water is no longer safe to drink, food is scarce, the rain is poison like acid, and the sun's rays can kill. This is the world that 15-year-old Esther lives in. This is the only world she has ever know. Kids and teenagers now make up civilization, if you can call it that. Practically all are illiterate, with the exception of a very few. Esther can read a little. Her older sister Sarah, who is 17 and reads very well, taught her. Unfortunately, it isn't a skill that is regarded as necessary in the world anymore. Children are partnered (what we would considered married), by the time they are 15 at the oldest. Very few are able to conceive, and for those that do, only 1 out of every 5 babies manage to survive. Then they have the issues of the sickness, and if someone gets that, they are immediately shunned and sent out to die. There are also the Variants to deal with, and Esther's best friend Skar just happens to be one. Variants are hermaphroditic beings that decide their sex at the age of 10. They are also partnered after that. Though they look nothing like the humans, they talk, have feelings, etc. and really, inside aren't that different. Unfortunately, the humans want nothing to do with the Variants, and the Variants want nothing to do with the humans, except for Skar and Esther that is. In fact, the Variants have been attacking the town of Prin where Esther and the other humans live and work, gleaning, searching for anything left of use to trade for water and food, which is kept at "The Source," a large complex run by another boy Levi and his soldiers. Sarah taught Levi to read when he was younger, and he has used that along with his natural abilities to become a leader, and can be a very manipulative one at that. When a strange new boy comes into town one day, everything changes. Caleb, who knows how to fight the variants, is recruited after saving one of the townspeople in the hopes of teaching them what he knows about fighting. Caleb is on his own quest though, determined to find the cause of his family's death, and little does he know many answers lie within the boundaries of Prin. One thing he did not expect to find in Prin was love, which he finds with Esther, something she wasn't looking for either, but when troubles escalates and threats and danger increase, will Esther, Caleb and the townspeople of Prin be able to survive?Wasteland is a dystopian novel that has some interesting premises. I enjoyed the beginning of the book and the friendship that Esther and Skar shared, and I did like Esther's character. Esther was more interested in having fun than working, and most of the time she did just that. I enjoyed Caleb's character also. The other townspeople were not very impressive though, and the parts of the story where Esther had dealings with them tended to be a little slow for my taste. I would have liked to have seen a little more time spent on the relationship between Esther and Caleb. One day they meet and then they are partnering before you know it, which seemed a little too rushed, missing the opportunity for some great character building, which I think would enable the reader to connect with the hero and heroine on a deeper level. I would have liked to know more about how the world got into the shape it was in also. Wasteland did have it's exciting and surprising moments to, and the ending felt satisfying. I wasn't overly impressed with this book, but it wasn't awful either, and if you are a fan of dystopia then you may want to check this out.

[muddyboy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a guarded 4 stars for middle school aged readers only. This book is about a future world in which no one lives beyond the age of 20ish for health reasons that are not fully explained. This book is trying to be a teen version of Mad Max or The Road in which the kids must forage to survive. One kid controls a large cache of supplies and everyone is dependent on him. The most valuable commodity is gasoline which never apparently gets stale in this world. So there is a lot of siphoning going on. There is no one who says "Do you think we should grow things for the future/" There are your two obligatory "rebels" who meet and fall in love but nothing too graphic. Why 4 stars? Well the book reads easily and is fast paced if you don't read it with a critical mind would probably be enjoyable. It is the first of a three part series.

[bookswithbite · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A dystopian at its best with vivid world-building, I’m thrilled that I read this story. A new world for the reader to explore like no other. And of course the fight for power is struggle that is starting a battle. I really loved the plot. Built up beautifully with so much power in the words and world that is built, I found myself in the wasteland trying to survive. Learning the tricks and trades to survival, there are several new elements in the story that I particularly enjoyed. With all that is going on in the plot, I didn’t see the romance. There are friendships and business aspects done, but the romance certainly sneaked up on me. I like it. Despite the harsh world that Esther lived in, she found love where she least expects it. It gives her the strength to fight for the love she found and the friends she lost.What really intrigued me an kept me in the story is why do they die at such young age. And what exactly are people killing and searching for? As I continued to travel in the world, each chapter lead me deeper into more secrets. When all the secrets were revealed, I’m astonished I didn’t see it sooner. The authors did a great job in keeping the reader out of the loop, along with the characters so that everything you read you discover together. A great story that can capture any readers imagination, Wasteland is fantastic. It’s gritty and dark, compiling a primitive the search for life , Wasteland is awesome.

[miranda_paige · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book is somewhat confusing because it switches between second and third person. It also changes the narrator often and there are many characters. If you are willing to deal with these flaws and are able to work out the story in all the mess it is a good story. The writing is not so great.

[meganangela · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There is just something about Francesca Lia Block's writing that makes you want to crawl inside and live within the beauty of her words. Regardless of how you feel about the stories she weaves, there is no denying that she has a gift for the English language. And what a glorious gift it is.With that being said, sometimes beautiful writing isn't enough to make up for a messy plot. And Wasteland's plot is pretty darn messy. Some may call it a love story, and they wouldn't be wrong, but the players in this love story are...unconventional to say the least. And not in a good way. In a squicky way. And while revelations come to light in the final pages of the book that attempt to negate those uncomfortable feelings, the fact remains that Wasteland R E A L L Y straddles the line of appropriateness. Yes, I know I'm being purposely vague, but only because I don't want to give away any plot points for those who would like to read this book eventually. I just recommend that readers brace themselves for some deeply uncomfortable and likely conflicting feelings. And outside of that, let Francesca Lia Block's prose take you away. At the end of the day, that's what we came for, right? I give Wasteland a reluctant 2.5 out of 5 stars

[teharhynn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Poetically written. This book deals a little in the taboo, but it was a very interesting read. Even if the subject matter doesn't call you to, you should give the writing style a chance. It's much unlike anything that I've ever read.