The basic premise of this book is one which I've run into a couple times before: kids moving to a new town, which turns out to be supernatural somehow. The town in this one, Falling Bird, is... well, kind of like Aldermere, but bigger and higher-tech and also less nice.
As in, it's one of those magical towns that don't want to let you leave. So, naturally, the characters spend almost the entire book trying to leave. They landed in Falling Bird while trying to fly to Fort Baker, Colorado, to go live with their uncle; this will be important later.
Because y'know Falling Bird? It's the entrance to |the afterlife|. And y'know that plane the main three were on? It ended up |as a fireball over Colorado|.
Also, Mouse (one of the three protagonists) is six years old. She's very smart for her age, but she doesn't just act like someone older; the author made her believable in the less sophisticated way she views the world, her unshakeable faith in her imaginary friend, and her strong opinions on the Solar System.
Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: E10+ for scenes of peril and jerkfaces.
If you read this review expecting me to rate No Passengers Beyond This Point 4 stars, you were correct.
(Endnote: The book never actually discusses what's in |the afterlife|. I'm guessing this was in order to avoid offending people, but it was also necessary to avoid giving away The Reveal! too soon.
There's a really fun sci-fi show called Eureka you should watch when you're older -- find it streaming when you're in college or something. Totally has that "stuck in a weird town you can't get out of" thing, except people are pretty much there voluntarily, IIRC.
ReplyDeleteSounds fairly similar to this, yeah.
DeleteAlthough it sounds creepy to be stuck in a place that you can't leave, I think I might like to read this one???
ReplyDeleteGrammy
You might, although it doesn't seem like your sort of thing to me. But you never know!
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