before/after

   Usually it bothers me when I read a child who is written as overly precocious. "That's not the way a baby person would talk or think!" "That child would not be that intelligent or understanding!" I mean, obviously Alia Atreides and nearly all of the characters in Ender's Game/Shadow/etc get a free pass on this one but inter-planetary science fiction is a realm unto it's own. However, I can't be the only person who read Ender's Shadow and was confused by that part where baby-Bean hides in the toilet. At first I was all "so, he hid behind it? What? That is not a very good hiding place." and then I realized that OSC meant he hid IN the tank of the toilet and I was all impressed by imaginary baby-Bean saying "daaaaang, gurl, that water is cold" but the more I thought about it the more ridiculous it was. How did he get the lid back onto the tank? How did he climb up and in there? How did he not perish from hypothermia? Does everyone named Orson think they're a magical genius?

   Regardless of my feelings surrounding Bean and Alia and Ender, I was somewhat concerned going into In The After / Demitria Lunetta. I'd heard many good things about it, but I had also heard that it featured an uncommonly bright six year old. I can suspend my disbelief with the best of them, and I like far-fetched stories, but kids thinking beyond a believable cognitive level? Ugh.

   All my fears were assuaged, however, when Amy found Baby and the two of them began to bond. A story about sisterly BFFs? Working together in a post-apocalyptic world? Never speaking and developing a modified version of American Sign Language instead? Yes please. This is one of the best YA dystopia/science fiction books I have read in a long time. And it's a debut novel! I'm excited for what Lunetta comes up with in the future.

   Basic story line: monsters have invaded the earth and killed/eaten pretty much everyone. Amy was fortunate enough to have a environmentalist father and a paranoid mother, and lives in a veritable fortress. She's able to survive the onslaught, and one night while out scavenging, comes across a toddler in a supermarket. She dubs the girl "Baby", and adopts her as her sister. The book follows their adventures and misadventures, and is exciting and touching and enjoyable. I read it in a day.