While We Run

by Karen Healey

Overview

It's 2127, and the future is at stake . . .

Abdi Taalib thought he was moving to Australia for a music scholarship. But after meeting the beautiful and brazen Tegan Oglietti, his world was turned upside down. Tegan's no ordinary girl - she died in 2027, only to be frozen and brought back to life in Abdi's time, 100 years later.

Now, all they want is for things to return to normal (or as normal as they can be), but the government has other ideas. Especially since the two just spilled the secrets behind Australia's cryonics project to the world. On the run, Abdi and Tegan have no idea who they can trust - and, when they uncover startling new details about the program, they realize that thousands of lives may be in their hands.

Karen Healey offers a suspenseful, page-turning companion to When We Wake that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and make them call into question their own ideas about morality -- and mortality, too.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316233835
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/27/2014
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Lexile:	760L (what's this?)
File size:	736 KB
Age Range:	15 - 17 Years

About the Author

Karen Healey is the author of the Aurealis winner and William C. Morris Debut Award finalist Guardian of the Dead, The Shattering, and When We Wake. She technically lives in New Zealand, but actually lives on the internet. You can find her at karenhealey.com.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for While We Run:


"Compelling and gripping...it's the social justice consciousness she brings to these elements that make this title stand above most others. Her cast of characters is diverse but not tokenizing or whitewashed...the series is an excellent read for high school students."—School Library Journal

"Like its predecessor, Run succeeds simply as a sci-fi thriller; there's plenty of action (including some grisly violence), a frightening villain, and a well-imagined (and refreshingly diverse) future society. But the novel is elevated by its social commentary, emphasizing the importance of fighting for justice in a world that has little of it-even if it means making difficult political and moral decisions."—The Horn Book

"The more I read of Karen Healey's work, the more impressed I become... I believe [she] may well be one of the best voices writing science fiction today."—Tor.com

Praise for When We Wake:
* "Science fiction done right."—Kirkus, starred review

"A stirring and century-spanning adventure story that vividly shows how the future is created by our mistakes, our triumphs, and our love."—Scott Westerfeld (Leviathan and Uglies)

"A gripping human story set against the backdrop of a chillingly plausible future."—Sean Williams (#1 New York Times bestselling author)

From the Publisher

"A gripping human story set against the backdrop of a chillingly plausible future."

Sean Williams (#1 New York Times bestselling author)

"A stirring and century-spanning adventure story that vividly shows how the future is created by our mistakes, our triumphs, and our love."

Scott Westerfeld (Leviathan and Uglies)

04/01/2014
Gr 9 Up—In this gripping sequel to When We Wake (Little, Brown, 2013), the schemes, betrayals, and heroics of a group of teenagers living in Australia in 2127 are told from the perspective of Abdi Taalib, who was last seen through the eyes of Tegan, the first novel's protagonist. The story opens with Abdi and Tegan in captivity, used and abused in order to quell the unrest they created with Tegan's last telecast that uncovered various governmental wrongdoings. There is, of course, a thrilling escape, shifting loyalties, tough decisions, and romance. The future world Healey creates is all the more terrifying for being entirely plausible. Her chosen dystopian plot points (regeneration of cryogenically frozen youth, environmental destruction, and dreams of fleeing a dying planet) are compelling and gripping. However, it's the social justice consciousness she brings to these elements that make this title stand above most others. Her cast of characters is diverse but not tokenizing or whitewashed. A Muslim girl scrupulously performs her prayers in between her journalist/hacker crusades. The trans lesbian chemist helps bring medicine to struggling nations but refuses to engage in top-down cultural imperialism. Abdi is a rape survivor, and Healey offers one of the rare instances when an abusive sexual dynamic between an older woman and a teenage boy is effectively dealt with in young adult fiction. There are some four-letter words and sexuality, but nothing gratuitous or overly graphic, and while the themes are fairly intense, the series is an excellent read for high school students.—Kyle Lukoff, Corlears School, New York City

School Library Journal

Narrator Bernard Setaro Clark has no trouble conveying the emotion and suspense of this futuristic adventure. The sequel to WHEN WE WAKE, the story is told by Abdi Taalib, a third-world immigrant from Djibouti whose scholarship and visa to Australia were granted on the strength of his singing voice. Abdi, along with Tegan (the first frozen and successfully revived person, featured in the first installment), is being tortured by the government. When the two teens are rescued, it isn’t always clear who can be trusted. While Clark’s pacing and tone keep listeners on the edge of their seats, he’s not equal to the demands of the Australian accent—all the supporting characters sound the same and seem to hail from a grating not-quite-down-under nation. A.B. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

JULY 2014 - AudioFile

Narrator Bernard Setaro Clark has no trouble conveying the emotion and suspense of this futuristic adventure. The sequel to WHEN WE WAKE, the story is told by Abdi Taalib, a third-world immigrant from Djibouti whose scholarship and visa to Australia were granted on the strength of his singing voice. Abdi, along with Tegan (the first frozen and successfully revived person, featured in the first installment), is being tortured by the government. When the two teens are rescued, it isn’t always clear who can be trusted. While Clark’s pacing and tone keep listeners on the edge of their seats, he’s not equal to the demands of the Australian accent—all the supporting characters sound the same and seem to hail from a grating not-quite-down-under nation. A.B. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

JULY 2014 - AudioFile

★ 2014-03-17
In the follow-up to When We Wake (2013), a diverse, skilled and politically committed group of teenagers fights a chillingly sinister government in a future Australia. The first volume saw Tegan Oglietti, revived from cryonic suspension in the year 2128, expose the Australian government's secret plot to send a starship into space with cryogenically frozen third-world refugees to perform slave labor. Pragmatic, politically savvy Abdi Taalib, the "thirdie" from Djibouti who became close to Tegan in the previous installment, narrates here. When the story opens, both teens are in the control of government handlers, coerced by physical, emotional and sometimes sexual torture to publicly promote the government's starship scheme. The villains and their tactics are believable and frightening, and the political and ethical questions raised are satisfyingly complex. Is it ever right to sacrifice human life for political expediency? Are any lives more important than others? This is the best kind of speculative fiction, combining diverse, well-realized characters with thought-provoking dilemmas. Abdi's strong voice and keen awareness of his own ability to manipulate situations provide a compelling window into a future world. Suspenseful, well-crafted and visionary. (Science fiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews