Zeroes (Zeroes, book 1) by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti. Simon Pulse, 2016. 9781481443371
Format: Paperback
Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4
Genre: Fantasy/science fiction
What did you like about the book? Just when you though all the superhero talents were covered … here is a group of diverse, very relatable twenty-first century teens with invisible talents everyone wishes they had, at least some of the time. The group kind of covers an array of social cliques: geeks, techies, artists, social butterflies, goths, and the alpha-type go-getter. Scam has a voice which takes over when he needs it and sometimes when he doesn’t. Crash has the ability, no, the need, to control technology and struggles to accomplish it without harming others. Flicker is blind but can see through the eyes of others. Anonymous can erase the awareness of his presence, and is mostly invisible. His power comes with the cost that people forget he exists. Bellwether can connect a group and influence its collective mind, and leads the Zeroes. Mob doesn’t know she isn’t the only one with powers. She needs to be in a crowd to feel alive and can harness its emotional energy. She ends up becoming the sixth Zero. Well developed individual characters, with a group tension dynamic, a love/hate with their “Fearless Leader,” and a bit of romance. What’s not to like? Ties things up nicely while indicating that there is more to come.
Anything you didn’t like about it?
To whom would you recommend this book? Recommend to kids 14 yrs and up who like superhero fiction, or who are fans of Scott Westerfeld.
Who should buy this book? Middle school and public libraries
Where would you shelve it ? Teen fiction
Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? No
Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City and State: Stephanie Tournas, Robbins Library, Arlington, MA
Date of review April 17, 2017
—
Youth Services Book Review 
You must be logged in to post a comment.