What if you lived in a world without books?
After a devastating Blight killed off all the trees, paper is worth more than just about anything. Juni’s parents died when she was young, so now it’s just her and Grandpa Edgar. When she’s not in school, Juni and her friends Doler and Quaze turn to plifting—scavenging for any paper they can find. If Juni can find enough paper, she can pay for the health care Grandpa needs.
So when Juni discovers a book—the first one she’s ever seen—hidden in a box in her grandpa’s closet, she’s both surprised and elated thinking of the money she could get for it. That all changes when she decides to read the book. Beyond opening her imagination, the book contains clues that point to what could be the last library on Earth.
The library’s location has been hidden for more than a hundred years, but Juni and her friends are not the only ones looking for it. Ullred O’Donnell, head of R&D for Novexus, a megacorporation that replaced the government and now controls all information, is desperate to find the library as well. With an army of vicious robot dogs at his command, Ullred warns Juni to abandon her quest—or else.
Juni and her friends must find the library and share it with the world before Novexus claims it as their own. If reading one book could change Juni’s life, what would access to thousands—or millions—of books do?
A world without books. Now, there’s a devastating future Dystopian setting.
I could not live in a world without books! My whole life revolves around books: reading books, reading ebooks when I can’t get my hands on the physical ones, listening to audiobooks, and going to libraries and bookstores to get more books. The whole reason I started this book blog is because I love books so much! I’m an author/illustrator, for Pete’s sake! I write, illustrate, and sell my books for a living!
This next part gives away spoilers, but I feel it must be discussed. In this future world, very few people know how to read. “The practice hadn’t been taught for many years.” The thought of people not being taught how to read is mind-boggling! Being able to read is an essential skill that shouldn’t be taken for granted. You might be asking, “If people can’t read, how do they learn anything?” In this world, people use a Syncron device to uplink information from the Global Database of Learning. “Using only audio, images, and vibrations to stimulate different parts of the brain, a Syncron could uplink information in a fraction of the time that reading would take.” Basically, Syncron devices have made reading obsolete. But what if your brain can’t process information that quickly? What if audio and images aren’t enough for the information to stick in your brain? That’s why I like to have subtitles on when I watch TV. I love audiobooks, but sometimes, the words are said faster than my brain can process. That’s why I use a physical book or an ebook to follow along. It’s what helps me write these reviews.
Luckily, Juni is one of the few people who knows how to read. When Juni first discovers the book and learns about the library full of books, all she can think about is how much all that paper is worth. But after Juni reads her first real book, she learns to see the worth in books rather than just their price worth.
The author, Frank L. Cole, has done a fantastic job creating a believable future setting. Society will still rely heavily on technology, plastic will still be everywhere, and people will still struggle to afford medical care. This seems pretty realistic to me.
The exact year is never mentioned in the story, only that it has been a hundred years since the Blight ended. If you take into account that the book Juni reads is published in the year 2056 as a base point, add 30 years when the Blight might have started, add 1 year of desolation and starvation, and add 100 years, so I estimate that this story takes place sometime in the year 2187. Give or take a year or two. See my math below.
2056 + 30 + 1 + 100 = 2187
Or I could be off by a hundred years. Who knows?
Overall, this is a powerful story about the power of books and how they can change our perspectives.
One last thing: At the beginning of each chapter is an ISBN, a number assigned to every published book worldwide. Use these codes to discover a secret message in the first word of each title.
Remember, information is power, reading is salvation, buy books. Bye!