The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Bibliographic Information
Publisher: Speak
Publication year: 2013
ISBN: 978-0142425831

Reader’s Annotation
The first four waves of the invasion caused Cassie to lose her mother and father, and lose track of her little brother, Sammy, who was drafted into an army of children being trained to take on the aliens and reclaim earth for the human race. Together with mysterious stranger Evan, she must find her brother before the fifth wave begins.

Plot Summary
High-schooler Cassie’s life is as average as it gets, until she finds herself one of the only people left on earth after a multi-wave alien invasion meant to snuff out all human life on Earth. Both of her parents are killed and her younger brother Sammy is taken by a branch of the army that pretended to be the “good guys.” Cassie’s classmate and secret crush Ben was enjoying life as a star athlete and lady’s man until he survived the virus that killed the rest of his family and was drafted into an army of children whose purpose is to kill the alien enemy before humans go completely extinct. After becoming leader of his troupe Ben, a.k.a. Zombie, takes Sammy under his wing and vows to protect him no matter what. With the help of mysterious but inexplicably trustworthy stranger Evan, Cassie finds herself in a terrifying race to find Sammy before the dawn of the aliens’ next attempt to snuff out all humans: the fifth wave.

Critical Evaluation
The 5th Wave has all the ingredients of a mainstream, popular science fiction franchise without the kitsch. The characters are just average enough to be believable, but just original enough not to be called one-dimensional. Descriptions of an America ravaged by an extraterrestrial invasion are so vivid that the reader can not only see, but feel the devastation as they read. Yancey leaves the reader wanting more after each chapter, which turns this 500+ page novel into a quick read.

Author Information
Rick is the author of fifteen novels and a memoir. His books have been published in over thirty languages and have earned numerous accolades and awards from around the world. His young adult novel, The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, was named a "Best Book of the Year" by Publishers Weekly and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal. In 2010, Rick received a Michael L. Printz Honor for The Monstrumologist. The sequel, The Curse of the Wendigo, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His latest novel, The 5th Wave, the first in an epic sci-fi trilogy, made its worldwide debut in 2013, and will soon be a major motion picture for GK Films and Sony Pictures.

Source: http://www.rickyancey.com/about

Genre
Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties
n/a

Booktalking Ideas
Begin by describing the post-apocalyptic setting and the first four waves. Read a passage from Zombie’s perspective about his early days training in the army. Then give a rating from 1-5 and tell the audience why this is my rating, and take questions.

Reading Level/Interest Age
Booklist: Grades 9-12
School Library Journal: Grade 9 and up

Challenging Issues
Language
Mental Illness
Murder
Violence

Preparing for Potential Challenges
http://jeselynsminiyacollection.blogspot.com/p/preparing-for-potential-challenges.html

Why the Item Was Chosen
It is important to offer popular materials to library patrons, especially series with popular movie franchises attached. The 5th Wave is still in the early stages, but could eventually be compared to The Hunger Games or Twilight in terms of popularity with young adults. A teen might come into the library looking for this book and leave with it along with several others they weren’t even looking for. Not to use Yancey’s work exclusively as a ploy to gain young adult patrons, because the work is good in and of itself. The main reason I included it in my collection is because post-apocalyptic settings and alien invasions are universally desired by readers from all generations.