Underland

by Nancy Chappell-Pollack, Collen Nelson

Overview

Following the events of Pulse Point, 12-year old Ama and the other Underlanders living in a world of darkness dig for brine, the City’s real energy source. Underland is a dangerous place: cave-ins, starvation and illness are constant threats. When their leader deserts them, Ama goes looking for him and stumbles on two Citizens. Neither knew the other existed. 18-year old Sari lives in the City, blissfully unaware of what goes on beneath her feet. The disappearance of her best friend, Kaia, has left her feeling isolated. A chance encounter with her sister leads her to join a group called the Resistance who are on a secret mission to reveal the secrets the Council keeps hidden. When Kaia mounts an attack on the City, Sari and Ama are thrown together in a battle that will decide their futures and the fate of the City.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781773370521
Publisher:	Great Plains Publications
Publication date:	10/30/2020
Series:	Pulse Point , #2
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

NANCY CHAPPELL-POLLACK initially started writing for her career in communications, but once a maternity leave yielded more time with her sister Colleen Nelson, an award-winning author, a likely partnership was formed. Colleen is the heavy in the writing relationship, with Nancy providing some insight or perspective as the process progresses. Nancy lives in Winnipeg with her four children and her husband. COLLEEN NELSON earned her Bachelor of Education from the University of Manitoba in her hometown of Winnipeg. Her previous novels include Sadia, winner of the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award, Blood Brothers, selected as the 2018 McNally Robinson Book of the Year for Young People, and Pulse Point, selected as one of the CBC’s Most Anticipated YA Books of 2018. Colleen writes daily in between appearances at hockey rinks and soccer fields in support of her two sports-loving sons.

Editorial Reviews

"The story works to illustrate the modern world’s Faustian bargain of great comfort and security at the expense of the environment and the unprivileged. It convincingly portrays the human instinct to resist change opposed to the resilient values of compassion, justice and freedom."  —CM: Canadian Review of Materials


“Underland inspires faith that a few good people can make the difference and that redemption is possible through transformation.” —Helen Kubiw, CanLit for LittleCanadians

"Ama is a resourceful, brave and admirable character." —Winnipeg Free Press

From the Publisher

2020-08-25
The fates of a community of people forced to labor underground and of the city that enslaved them are inexorably intertwined in this sequel to Pulse Point (2018).

Alternating narration from Sari, a City dweller introduced in the first installment who becomes suspicious of her corrupt leaders, and Ama, a 12-year-old who toils alongside a group of other Unders, reveals horrifying secrets. The Unders mine for salt brine used to produce energy for the City, and the tunnels they dig have at long last destabilized the domed City’s infrastructure, imperiling all. This rapidly paced story focuses on building the atmospherically bleak, ritualistic world of the Unders, where children are brought to work at young ages by Krux, a cruel overseer, and girls disappear to become mothers as soon they start menstruating. Building directly on the events of Pulse Point, this sequel often feels rushed and its conclusion perfunctory, with writing that veers toward platitudes rather than allowing for its characters’ stories to unfold naturally. While many of the ideas presented are worthwhile, especially the ways in which good leaders are not born but self-made, finding their ways through self-doubt and struggle, this tale doesn’t explore them fully. All of the characters assume a White default; Ama is in love with her friend Romi, who is also female.

Ties up a dystopian adventure but disappointingly lacks depth. (Science fiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews