Vampires have had their day in the sun. Zombies are resting in peace. The new it-girls in supernatural romance seems to be bionic women. [Possible spoilers appear below; and, okay, to be fair, they're not all robots, but I do sense a trend. And just for fun, Freaks & Geeks fans, click here.]

Cinder (Feiwel, 2012) — Marissa Meyer’s Cinderella-meets-sci-fi adventure — helped kick things off. “With no memory of her life before becoming a cyborg, teenage Linh Cinder (who lives with her stepmother and two stepsisters) is forced to earn the family’s living as a mechanic,” begins Cindy Ritter’s Fall 2012 Horn Book Guide review (excerpted from her January/February 2012 Horn Book Magazine review). Clearly this young lady ain’t Walt Disney’s cinder-sweeper, and the Lunar Chronicles series started off with a bang, earning Meyer a spot on the New York Times Bestseller List and giving robot grrrls everywhere a fresh new voice.

Rachel Cohn, coauthor (with David Levithan) of such emo-teen hits as Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (Knopf, 2006), Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List (Knopf, 2007), and Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares (Knopf, 2010) forges into sci-fi territory with her new book Beta (Hyperion, 2012; check out the book trailer here). The main character, Elysia, a teenage clone for sale at the mall, starts living the high life after being purchased by the governor’s wife. As the story goes on, Elysia begins to question everything she thinks she knows — or has been programmed to believe.

Unremembered by Jessica Brody (Farrar, 2013) begins with the main character floating alone in the ocean, apparently the only survivor of a plane crash. She has no memory of who she is or what just happened [NB: girls with amnesia are another YA trend]. Back on land, she becomes a celebrity; a foster family takes her in, and a mysterious boy, who claims he knows her, starts appearing everywhere. Without going any further with spoilers, take a look again at the title of this post. Also? Are there ever any biotech/pharmaceutical companies in YA fiction that aren’t evil? (Same goes for real-estate developers.) Check out the U.S. and U.K. galley covers on the author’s website.

No spoilers here: from the back cover of the galley of Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza (Harper/Tegan, 2013): “Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was supposed to forget her past — that she was built in a secret computer lab and programmed to do things real people would never do. Now she has no choice but to run. The only thing she can’t escape is who she is and what she’s becoming.” ‘Nuff said.

The protagonist of Eve & Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate suffers a horrible car accident. Thanks to her (*ahem* evil) pharmaceutical-company-exec mom’s shady products, Evening (called Eve) is miraculously healed. Still under observation, Eve is bored; she passes the time by working on Mom’s project to “design the perfect boy,” manipulating DNA in order to create flawless eighteen-year-old male specimen Adam. A loner boy aptly named Solo, nonperfect and human, forms the third arm of the story’s sci-fi love triangle.

YA authors: Kelly LeBrock called; she wants a royalty. And what’s next: sentient mannequins?

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In A Million Suns, the sequel to Beth Revis’s Across the Universe, Sol-Earth–born Amy is struggling with the claustrophobic life aboard the Godspeed after being prematurely awakened from her frozen sleep. The workers are getting rebellious, and the threat of violence onboard ship increases. The moral quandaries presented in shipboard life seem a natural extension of the concerns raised in the first book, and Revis adds a cliffhanger ending to heighten interest in the forthcoming conclusion to the trilogy. (12 years and up)

Kristin Cashore’s Bitterblue serves as a Graceling sequel and Fire companion. The story picks up eight years after Bitterblue, now eighteen, became queen of Monsea. She feels disconnected from her country and people, but friendship with two city thieves allows her to uncover a dangerous web of secrets. Cashore’s sophisticated prose propels the plot, and the believable struggles and maturation of Bitterblue’s character make the complex journey worthwhile. (14 years and up)

Froi of the Exiles is the second book in Melina Marchetta’s Lumatere Chronicles. Former street thug Froi, a secondary character in Finnikin of the Rock, is now, three years later, a devoted follower of Queen Isaboe of Lumatere and her consort Finnikin. But as the story progresses, his role shifts from loyal subject to unwilling spy, assassin, and major figure in the fortunes of his crumbling world. The tortured romances, continually surprising plot, and flashes of humor will keep readers fully engaged in this gripping story. (14 years and up)

Imagine an America in which love is a deadly disease to be eradicated. This is the setting for Lauren Oliver’s Delirium and its new sequel, Pandemonium. Lena’s former self is dead, buried in the fire and ashes that took her beloved Alex during their botched escape attempt from Deliria-Free America. Now chaos reigns as Lena begins a new life in the Wilds, becoming swept up in the war between DFA and the growing resistance. This is an action-packed, suspenseful page-turner with a rewarding and dramatic cliffhanger ending. (14 years and up)

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In order to get Richard to go I think I’m going to have in turn see Footnote, an Israeli father-and-son drama that doesn’t exactly sound up my alley (anybody else who was bored by A Separation, raise your unwashed hands). But i did watch, in Katniss’s honor, Tomorrow, When the World WAR (thank you Jennifer, I always get that wrong!) Began and Battle Royale. The first was fun, with gorgeous shots of the Australian bush and some welcome humor providing balance to the explosions, but the inconclusive ending made me annoyed rather than hungry for more. Battle Royale was gleefully horrifying and too kinky for me. I haven’t read the book, but the movie doesn’t provide any particular evidence that Collins had swiped stuff from it. With the publication of apocalyptic and dystopian fiction (the distinctions between which being helpfully discussed in an article by April Spisak forthcoming in our May issue) continuing unleashed, I’m seeing the same tropes over and over again. it’s a zeitgeist thing, baby.

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In Jeanne DuPrau’s The City of Ember, the titular metropolis has no natural light, and the blackouts of its antiquated electrical grid are coming more and more frequently: “disaster was right around the corner.” So thinks Doon, a curious twelve-year-old who, along with his spirited schoolmate Lina, determines to save the city. The writing is agreeably spare and remarkably suspenseful; look for sequels The People of Sparks and The Diamond of Darkhold. (Random House)

When, in The Boy at the End of the World by Gref van Eekhout, Fisher looks out upon the world he has inherited, he sees ruins. His robot Click tells him, “Humans are no more.” Fisher sets off in search of other people, heading across a landscape inhabited by piranha-crocs, giant prairie dogs, and carnivorous plants. His adventures, told in fast-paced prose and set in a boldly imagined future, will be exciting for young readers. (Bloomsbury)

The robot protagonist of Helen Fox’s Eager has been programmed to experience the world much like a child, learning and growing from each new adventure. Eager experiences joy, sadness, and—in helping Gavin and Fleur Bell investigate a new breed of robots that are staging a revolt—discovers his own courage and bravery. The endearing Eager makes a memorable, and occasionally poignant, protagonist. (Random/Lamb)

Allegra Goodman’s The Other Side of the Island takes place after a flood decimates the population and Earth Mother’s Corporation encloses regions of the now island-dotted planet. Ten-year-old Honor struggles between her society’s relentless indoctrination and her unpredictable parents; tension ratchets up after they are “taken.” Fans of dystopic and speculative fiction will want to check this out–there’s much for discussion and debate. (Penguin/Razorbill)

Video game enemy aliens surrender to twelve-year-old Johnny Maxwell and ask for safe conduct to their home world; Johnny takes up the challenge, and the alien fleet disappears off the screens of gamers around the globe. Terry Pratchett’s Only You Can Save Mankind is a quirky and timely knee-slapper. First published in Britain in 1992, it’s still fresh, engaging, and thought-provoking. Readers will want to keep up with Johnny’s adventures with Johnny and the Dead and Johnny and the Bomb. (HarperCollins)

In William Sleator’s Interstellar Pig, Barney’s boring vacation at the beach seemingly takes a turn for the better when three unusually attractive young adults rent the summer cottage next door. However, after the neighbors unwittingly reveal their extraterrestrial identities, the board game they have taught him becomes a real-life battle, and Barney must outsmart the aliens to save Earth from destruction. The fantastical tale, containing some of Sleator’s most inventive characters, continues in Parasite Pig. (Dutton)

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But I have to admit that the whole time I was reading it I felt, this is a kids’ book, and not in a good way. The first-person narrative is completely straightforward, reliable, and chronological; the prose seems to be at a fourth-grade reading level; there is no nuance or ambiguity in the characters. It’s far more cheerful and far less subtle than any current science fiction published for teens. Honestly, I felt like I was back with Danny Dunn, good times indeed.

Why was it was published as an adult book? Yes, yes, labels are for clothes or however that slogan went, but had I gone into it thinking it was a children’s book (and even with a scant mention of masturbation, it feels younger than most of today’s YA) I would have thought it was solid reluctant-reader (by which we mean boy-reader) fare. But as an adult book, it seems kind of dopey. But shouldn’t I find it dopey either way?

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I’d go with Kingdom (to short-title a short title), but then I got used to the Roger-Hates-Kids meme back when I was SLJ’s YA columnist and let slip that I thought library-sponsored YA kissing contests were stupid. Be strong, Lois!

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