Alone Out Here
by Riley Redgate
High School    Hyperion    400 pp.   g
4/22    978-1-368-06472-9    $18.99

In the near future, scientists predict a volcanic eruption that will render Earth unlivable. The global plan to launch generation ships is fraught with political and technical failure; fifty-three teenagers alone leave Earth on the one viable ship, and grief, along with food and personnel shortages, soon take their toll. Leigh Chen, first daughter of the U.S., struggles to balance her habitual evasive diplomacy against the urgent need for action, as the crew slides into panicked violence. With a firm handle on her characters’ personalities and evolving fears, Redgate steers the reader through a space thriller that is chilling without being nihilistic. The ship technology and its grim shortcomings are well-considered and generally fresh. Light romance and a ­pull-no-punches ending round out this emotionally adroit, nerve-wracking novel.

From the July/August 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.