One Trick Pony

March 13, 2017
Earth has been conquered; families traveling in caravans preserve civilization’s digital archives while avoiding bioparasites called pipers that slurp up robots and other metals. Strata, Auger, and Inby, three young nomads, stumble on a cache of robots; the best prize is Kleidi, a working robotic horse. The robots call forth a lethal swarm of pipers, but Strata won’t abandon Kleidi. Auger and Inby make it home with the help of Pick, a self-possessed girl from outside the caravan, and Strata and Kleidi take on the pipers, then confront their pompous overlords. Hale (the Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series) pours imaginative detail and intensity into the ruins of the destroyed world, the icky details of the pipers, and his human characters. He draws in grayscale with yellow highlights, giving all things robotic and metallic a particular glow. The dialogue is distinctive, too: “You eat pigs, do you not?” one of Earth’s overlords asks Strata. “Have you taken the time to converse with a pig—a small pig—as we are conversing with you now?” Hale gives his post-apocalyptic scenario special sauce, and readers will hope for more. Ages 8–12. Agency: Shannon Associates.

February 15, 2017
In the future, the extraterrestrial Pipers devour electrical devices while threatening human lives and forcing them to regress to pre-electrical technology. Strata, her brother, Auger, and his wisecracking friend, Inby, find a sleeping robot pony named Kleidi buried in sand one day while exploring some ruins. Waking Kleidi, however, triggers activity and attracts numerous unwanted encounters with the Pipers, huge and terrifying tentacled beings; fleeing, they become lost. While on the run, the group meets a young woman, Pick, from a different tribe, which is hiding from "ferals," or bandits and outlaws. Together they go on a quest in search of the Caravan--the trio's mobile home, which houses the remaining digital archives: robots, literature, music, movies, along with all memory of previous human civilizations. Serving as a leitmotif throughout the story is the tale of the "Pied Piper of Hamelin": the children, in this future, are represented by technology; as Pick explains, "they are stealing our future." Hale generously offers texture and intricate details in his panels--often zooming in and out and back in--while offering balance with illustrations rendered in black, white, and gray with yellow accents. In this future, humans are divided into clans but do not maintain present-day racial distinctions; all the main characters appear to be children of color. Hale blends adventure, aliens, an apocalyptic future, and folklore into an easy-to-read stand-alone. (Graphic science fiction. 8-12)

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January 1, 2017

Gr 3-6-In a futuristic world where hostile aliens eat and destroy all technology, three young people are out searching for machinery to salvage. They succeed when they find a cache of robots, including a robot pony, which sets off a wild chase and confrontation with bands of roaming humans, aliens, and more. Set in a land that blends Stone Age elements and highly advanced technology, this graphic novel adventure features the same mix of humor and derring-do that makes Hale's "Hazardous Tales" so popular. The artwork is in black-and-white, with shades and pops of yellow. While many aspects of the book (for instance, aliens who use bubbles as weapons) might seem cartoony, the illustrations of this epic fantasy are sophisticated, and Hale's world-building is detailed. The violence is free of gore, making this a safer choice for younger readers. VERDICT A great option for fantasy and adventure fans.-Elizabeth Nicolai, Anchorage Public Library, AK

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2017
Grades 3-6 On a ravaged future earth, technology-hungry aliens called pipers scour the planet for salvage, leaving behind a landscape riddled with spherical gouges, as if earth was suddenly Swiss cheese. One cadre of humans is trying to preserve the earth's culture by scavenging for any remaining technology, but it's dangerous work, especially when three kidsStrata, Auger, and Inbystumble on a hidden cavern packed with untouched robots, including a beautiful mechanical horse. Strata's determined to bring the horse back to their caravan, but their discovery catches the attention of a horde of pipers, and their journey home gets a lot more complicated. Hale imbues his latest with pathos, action, and perfectly timed moments of comedy, but it's the imaginative landscape, spot-on visual pacing, and confident line work that make this adventure tale really zing. The pipers are a particular treatthey're elaborate, insectoid creatures with menacing, globular features and pendulous tendrils, ready to grab and annihilate anything they touch. Though it's over a bit too neatly, the suspenseful chase plot and lively characters will entrance plenty of readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2017
In this future-set graphic novel, Earth has been invaded by a hostile alien species. Drones known as pipers ruthlessly harvest technology, metals, and other resources, decimating civilization and forcing most humans to band together in marauding clans for survival. Strata and her family are part of the Caravan, a moving town whose inhabitants (including sentient robots) are committed to preserving computers and datapossibly all that's left of thousands of years of human culture. This gripping science-fiction saga plays out in expertly paced and varied comic panels rendered in black, white, and gray with effective yellow accents. The story centers on Strata and her fierce, unwavering devotion to a robot horse she excavates on a salvage expedition with her brother and a friend. Her discovery sets off a terrifying chain of events that ultimately threatens not only Strata and horse Kleidi but also Strata's family, the Caravan's electronic cultural relics, and humanity's very existence. With an engaging, racially diverse cast, this high-stakes epic adventure should have wide appeal: the fast-moving plot features a brave and principled heroine battling a hostile alien enemy in a bleak dystopian landscape. Hale shepherds this complex narrative with the same sure hand as his graphic novel series of real stories from history (Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy, rev. 9/12, and sequels), showing that he's equally at home in a speculative future as he is in the past. kitty flynn

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)