On a Clear Day

by Walter Dean Myers

"Visionary. This book should be in every reader's hands." –JACQUELINE WOODSON, National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming

Young heroes decide that they are not too young or too powerless to change their world in this gripping, futuristic young adult novel by the New York Times bestselling author of the Printz Award–winning Monster.
 
It is 2035. Teens, armed only with their ideals, must wage war on the power elite.
 
Dahlia is a Low Gater: a sheep in a storm, struggling to survive completely on her own. The Gaters live in closed safe communities, protected from the Sturmers, mercenary thugs. And the C-8, a consortium of giant companies, control global access to finance, media, food, water, and energy resources—and they are only getting bigger and even more cutthroat. Dahlia, a computer whiz, joins forces with an ex-rocker, an ex-con, a chess prodigy, an ex-athlete, and a soldier wannabe. Their goal: to sabotage the C-8. But how will Sayeed, warlord and terrorist, fit into the equation?
 
AWARDS FOR WALTER DEAN MYERS:
New York Times Bestselling Author
3-Time National Book Award Finalist
Michael L. Printz Award
5 Coretta Scott King Awards
2 Newbery Honors
National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature (2012-2013)
Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement
Children’s Literature Legacy Award

Praise for ON A CLEAR DAY:

“Walter Dean Myers was such a visionary. On a Clear Day is at once historical and futuristic, thoughtful and thought-provoking. It should be in every reader's hands. It's a book for anyone who has ever given thought to our own future and the futures of those coming behind us. Stunning.” –JACQUELINE WOODSON, National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming

*"A clarion call from a beloved, much-missed master." –Kirkus Reviews, Starred 

"In his last book, Myers has turned his thoughtful attention to matters of pressing global importance and issued an implicit challenge to his teen readers to become involved and make a difference. It makes for a stirring valedictory." –Booklist 

"Published posthumously, this is an angry story, demonstrating again Myers's acute social conscience." –Horn Book 

"Worth serious YA consideration." –The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

• ISBN10: 1322155216
• ISBN13: 9781322155210
• Publish Date: 1 January 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 4 March 2015
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
• Imprint: Random House Children's Books
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[Joséphine]

Audiobook rating: 2.5 stars
Book rating: 2 stars

Initial thoughts: This book was grossly underdeveloped. I can see where On a Clear Day was going. I appreciated the exploration of a monopolised global economy through conglomerates and terrorism. Diversity was ace too with a main character of Dominican origin as well as other supporting characters from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Beyond that, the plot was a mess and hardly ready for publication.

Getting from A to B in a story does nothing if the connection's weak. Now, occasional lapses are understandable. What baffled me was the extensiveness of weak links. The relationships between the characters particularly suffered from underdeveloped progressions. The resolution which the book built up to strangely felt like an afterthought as well.

For me the saving grace was Rebecca Soler's narration. Her heavy Latino accent lent a lot more authenticity to the characters than the words and descriptions alone. Had I picked up the ebook over the audiobook, I'm not sure if I would've bothered to finish On a Clear Day.