Eve and Adam

August 27, 2012
Eleventh-grader Evening Spiker (E.V. or Eve for short) has grown up with the wealth and privilege that go with being the only child of Terra Spiker, the stereotypically icy and no-nonsense CEO of Spiker Biopharmaceuticals. When Eve's leg is severed in an accident, the company clinic comes in handy, and when recovery gets to be a bore, there's the human simulation program to play withâEve's mother asks her to "design the perfect boy" with it. A young orderly, Solo, is easy on the eyes, but he also prods Eve to acknowledge truths she'd rather ignore, like how fast her reattached leg is healing. Solo knows a lot about Spiker, more than a guy who pushes the coffee cart ought to. Why? The husband-and-wife team of Grant and Applegate (the Ani-morphs series) knows how to keep the questions and the action coming as they alternate (mostly) between Eve and Solo's perspectives. Observant, smart, and unencumbered by emotion, this is a tasty read that readers will devour in a flash. Lucky for them, there's a sequel planned. Ages 13âup.

January 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-When she wakes up amidst tubes and lines in a hospital room, Evening (Eve) realizes that the last thing she can remember seconds before the horrible crash was that she was looking at an exceptionally crimson apple that stood out in a vendor's shop among an array of average looking fruit. Eve survives her debilitating injuries, but before she can fully regain consciousness, her mother arranges to have her transported to her own research facility-Spiker Biopharmaceuticals. While Eve is recuperating, she meets a mysterious boy about her own age and tries to learn who he really is and what his job is at her mother's facility. At the same time, she's also trying to cope with her mother's demands that keep her in isolation. Eve is desperate to maintain communication with her best friend Aislin, and her mother eventually relents-but only if Eve agrees to work on a genetic project. Listeners will enjoy the present-day sci-fi plot (Feiwel & Friends, 2012) because of its fast pace and twists and the intrigue of Eve's creation of the "perfect" human, who she names Adam. Revelations occur quickly, making this a great book for reluctant readers. Narrators Jenna Lamia (Eve) and Holter Graham (Solo) read alternating chapters, bringing these fascinating characters to life and creating a promising love interest. A not-to-be-missed, edgy sci-fi story.-Sheila Acosta, Cody Library, San Antonio, TX

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2013
Two genetically modified teens come together to fight the growing amorality of the biotech firm their parents founded years ago. Chapters alternate between the perspectives of Evening, daughter of the powerful and feared mogul Terra Spiker, and Solo, an orphan living at Spiker Biotech. Narrators Lamia and Graham respectively read these parts, with Graham also taking on the role of Adam, Eve's "perfect man," whom she creates believing that her genetic engineering is only a computer simulation. Graham adeptly differentiates between Solo's and Adam's narratives with markedly different approaches: Solo's conversational tone contrasts sharply with Adam's earnest, mechanic modulation. Lamia's inability to voice convincing accents -- Haitian and Vietnamese, for example -- is a detraction; her performance of Ashlynn (Eve's best friend), however, is impressive, swinging between insufferable swagger to believable vulnerability as the teens take on the evil scientists and reshape a love triangle into a square. allison e. cole

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)