Emmy Laybourne and Eoin Colfer!

(No, I didn't forget about Eoin Colfer in this post...just read the review, then you'll get to it.)
Title: Monument 14(Monument 14 #1)
Author: Emmy Laybourne
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends, an Imprint of Macmillian
Pub Year: 2012
Genre: Realistic Fiction/ Sci-Fi

Rating: 4.5/5

“In Emmy Laybourne's action-packed [Monument 14], six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.”

This is her debut, which was startlingly good and descriptive, especially with the many symptoms that the children faced. To me, however, this book deserves a 4.5, since it seems too much like two other books I know:Gone, by Michael Grant, and No Safety In Numbers, by Dayna Lorentz. Funny enough, you can buy Lorentz's book with Laybourne's book on Amazon, and get a reduced price, since they're frequently bought together!
Long story short (no pun intended), M14 was a great YA sci-fi debut, and I hope that the sequel, Monument 14: Sky on Fire, comes sooner than summer 2013! I got this book for $16.99 in the US, but in Canada, the price is $18.99. I also do NOT recommend this for children under thirteen or fourteen, since there is some adult content!


On a completely unrelated topic, next Friday, I get to meet—after a very long drive, of course—Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer(Picture courtesy of Anderson's Bookshop)! Anyone in the area should come on down to Anderson's Bookshop, and see him answer questions and sign books at 7 pm! Click here for more info, and I hope to see you there!


Exhausted from rock climbing,
Cam