Exodus

by Julie Bertagna

A lyrical, sweeping, epic story of survival against the odds - from one of Britain's most exciting young writers. It is 2099 - and the world is gradually drowning, as mighty Arctic ice floes melt, the seas rise, and land disappears forever beneath storm-tossed waves. For 15-year-old Mara, her family and community, huddted on the fast-disappearing island of Wing, the new century brings flight. Packed into tiny boats, a terrifying journey begins to a bizarre city that rises into the sky, built on the drowned remains of the ancient city of Glasgow. But even here there is no safety and, shut out of the city, Mara realizes they are asylum-seekers in a world torn between high-tech wizardry and the most primitive injustice. To save her people, Mara must not only find a way into the city but also search for a new land and a new home...

• ISBN10: 0333968859
• ISBN13: 9780333968857
• Publish Date: 23 August 2002
• Publish Status: Cancelled
• Out of Print: 1 October 2004
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Macmillan Children's Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English

Reviews

[violetpeanut]

I'm torn between 2 and 3 stars for this book. I did like it but there were some major flaws that hindered my enjoyment of the book.

The premise is an interesting one - what if the entire earth were flooded because the polar ice caps melted? The story is an interesting one and the plot moves along pretty nicely.

There were quite a few things I did not like, however. The dialogue was pretty horrible. Lots of gasping and whining and such. Some pretty cheesy exchanges. Also, within the plot there were a lot of unbelievable coincidences. The protagonist whines about how difficult things are and how she doesn't know how she will proceed. Then, voila! Something happens that makes everything ok. There are also a few references made to the fact that there are no women in charge and no women "dreamers." These references to women's rights really felt out of place. That facet of the story was never fleshed out so these mentions seem distracting rather than a real piece of the plot. They were unnecessary. If this was something that the author really wanted to explore she should have made it a larger part of the plot.

Overall, this book was ok. I liked it and really enjoyed parts of it but cannot rate it higher because of the issues stated above. I think most adults reading this would agree with me. However, tweens and young teens may rate this much higher.