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|---|---|---|---|
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Summary
Summary
Do you dare enter the Spill Zone? From science fiction visionary Scott Westerfeld and artist Alex Puvilland comes the first volume of this dystopian graphic novel duology
Three years ago an event destroyed the small city of Poughkeepsie, forever changing reality within its borders. Uncanny manifestations and lethal dangers now await anyone who enters the Spill Zone.
The Spill claimed Addison's parents and scarred her little sister, Lexa, who hasn't spoken since. Addison provides for her sister by photographing the Zone's twisted attractions on illicit midnight rides. Art collectors pay top dollar for these bizarre images, but getting close enough for the perfect shot can mean death--or worse.
When an eccentric collector makes a million-dollar offer, Addison breaks her own hard-learned rules of survival and ventures farther than she has ever dared. Within the Spill Zone, Hell awaits--and it seems to be calling Addison's name.
Author Notes
Scott Westerfeld was born in Dallas, Texas on May 5, 1963. He received a degree in philosophy from Vassar College in 1985. Before becoming a full time writer, he held several jobs including factory worker, software designer, editor, and substitute teacher. His works for young adults include the Uglies series, the Midnighters series, and The Last Days. He is the co-author of the Zeroes series written with Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti. He also writes science fiction novels for adults. He has won numerous awards including a Special Citation for the 2000 Philip K. Dick Award for Evolution's Darling, a Victorian Premier's Award for So Yesterday, and an Aurealis Award for The Secret Hour.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 10 Up-It's a mystery why three years ago Poughkeepsie suddenly broke the boundaries of reality, giving life to demonic wolves and sentient twisters, or why its human inhabitants now hang suspended in the air like puppets. It wasn't aliens, it wasn't a nuclear attack, and the military isn't talking. That isn't Addison's mystery to solve; all she has to do is go into this quarantined area-the Spill Zone-and photograph the bizarre happenings. She sells the images to support herself and her sister, Lexa. But soon the woman buying the bulk of the photographs presents Addison with the opportunity to embark on a deadly mission inside the Spill Zone, with the reward of a cool million dollars should she succeed. Meanwhile, the North Korean government, which had its own Spill incident, wants to meet with Addison for their own ominous purposes. Then there's Lexa's rag doll, Vespertine, who whispers devious thoughts in Lexa's mind. Westerfeld and Puvilland have created an imaginative, nightmarish powerhouse, with hectic line work and loud, vivid colors. This first of a duology wisely moves at a slow pace, rather than immediately revealing the plot and backstory of this warped world. Ultimately, the characters are the most compelling part of the book. Addison is particularly complex: though she is sympathetic, her decisions are intentionally presented as morally questionable. Harsh profanity and violence make this a more appropriate choice for mature readers. This unnerving, gripping title-Westerfeld's first original graphic novel-is bound to entice older comics fans, especially those interested in darker sci-fi and nuanced characterization. VERDICT A must-have for teen and graphic novel collections.-Matisse Mozer, Los Angeles Public Library © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
After losing her parents to the Spill Zone, an inexplicable force that has possessed Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Addison assumes care of her younger sister, Lexa, who witnessed the spill. Although the area is quarantined, Addison frequently risks her life to sneak inside, using her camera to document the bizarre ways that reality has been warped within: the zombielike human "meat puppets" trapped inside, cats that seem to speak, unimaginable creatures, and defiance of the natural law around every corner. After an art dealer offers Addison a million dollars, she considers visiting the hospital her parents never left, even though it goes against the rules that have kept her alive. Westerfeld (Afterworlds) establishes several compelling mysteries in this series opener, and Puvilland captures the haunting surreality of the Spill Zone through an unearthly pastel/neon palette that oozes a sense of wrongness every moment Addison spends there. At times, Puviland's jagged panels take on the feeling of snapshots, reflecting Addison's work and lending a voyeuristic quality to the story as readers follow her. Fascinating and hard to forget. Ages 15-up. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary Management. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* As he did in the YA favorite Uglies (2005), Westerfeld crafts a world drastically and subtly altered by an extranormal development, then rivetingly explores its practical and psychological consequences. The development in this case is something otherworldly that has spilled into a small town in upstate New York. Addison illegally penetrates the spill zone to photograph its disturbing effects on people, animals, and environment and sells the pictures as black-market art to support her little sister, an escapee from the spill zone but not, perhaps, from its effects. When Addison is approached with a shady deal to penetrate the zone more deeply than ever before, she will have to break every rule she's ever set to buy freedom for her sister and herself. Westerfeld handles the spooky business of the infected town magnificently, spiking the eerie and inexplicable with moments of genuine horror while always keeping the emotional tensions of his highly accessible teenage protagonist at the center. Puvilland provides rough, gritty visuals that deliver on the haunted world of the zone as well as the more realistic world of subterfuge and danger that Addison must navigate. The story breaks at a high-tension moment with plenty left to resolve in book two, but it is nevertheless a terrifically satisfying read.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2017 Booklist