A Crack in the Sky
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Thirteen-year-old Eli Papadopoulos is worried. Even though he’s a member of the most powerful family in the world. Even though his grandfather founded InfiniCorp, the massive corporation that runs everything in the bustling dome-cities. Even though InfiniCorp ads and billboards are plastered everywhere, proclaiming:
DON'T WORRY! INFINICORP IS TAKING CARE OF EVERYTHING!
Recently, Eli noticed that there’s something wrong with the artificial sky. It keeps shorting out, displaying strange colors and random images. And though the Department of Cool and Comfortable Air is working overtime, the dome-city is hotter than it’s ever been.
Eli has been raised to believe that the dome-cities are safe, that the important thing is to keep working and consuming, and that everyone is secure and comfortable in InfiniCorp’s capable hands.
But now he begins asking questions.
All of a sudden, operatives from a dangerous band of terrorists keep contacting him. The Friends of Gustavo—or Foggers—want to tear down everything InfiniCorp has created. They promise Eli that they have the truth he seeks—if he’s brave enough to handle it.
Eli isn’t convinced. And he’s about to find out that in the dome-cities, being a Papadopoulos isn’t enough to save a rule-breaker like him from being sent far away to learn right-thinking. In his new home, the Tower, Eli meets Tabitha, once at the top of her Internship class, now a forgotten slave. Together, and with help from Eli’s beloved pet mongoose, Marilyn, they just might be able to escape . . . and try to make a life for themselves in the scorched wilderness outside the domes.
This sweeping, high-concept eco-thriller recalls Disney/Pixar’s Wall•E and Lois Lowry’s classic The Giver, yet it is completely original, a remarkable, fully realized fantasy that will change the way you look at how we live.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hughes s grim tale is set on a largely depopulated Earth devastated by global warming. Thirteen-year-old Eli Papadopoulos lives in the domed city of Providence, a supposed consumerist utopia. His family, which founded InfiniCorp (motto: Don t worry! InfiniCorp is taking care of everything! ), runs many such havens, and Eli has long accepted the official line that the world is cooling down and returning to normal. Temperatures continue to rise, however, and the dome s virtual reality environment is malfunctioning. Eli is soon contacted by Foggers, environmental activists who oppose InfiniCorp s policies; when he begins to doubt everything he s been raised to believe, he is sent to a remote re-education facility. Although Eli escapes, this first volume in the Greenhouse Chronicles leaves his fate to future installments. Hughes (Lemonade Mouth) is an earnest writer, and while his story doesn t lack action, Eli s Matrix-style awakening ( What if you disentangled the truth only to discover that your whole life has been a sham? he s asked) and the heavy-handed portrayal of his complacent society make it feel preachy. An appendix and reading list on global warming are included. Ages 12 up.
Customer Reviews
Great
This book is great it is very exhilarating