Iceling

October 10, 2016
All her life, Lorna has known that her younger sister, Callie—one of the orphans Lorna’s scientist father found at sea and brought to the U.S.—is different. Callie has fits and doesn’t speak, just like the other rescued children, now teenagers, that Lorna calls icelings and that the government that monitors them calls Arctic Recovery Orphans. But Lorna loves Callie, and she believes that Callie loves her, too. Then Callie’s fits worsen, and one day she builds a detailed model of an island and makes it clear that she needs to go there. Seventeen-year-old Lorna and Callie hit the road with another set of siblings, Stan and Ted, heading north and meeting other iceling-sibling pairs as they travel. Stephenson’s intriguing debut, first in a planned series, is a combination road trip story, SF tale, and adventure yarn. The occasional plot hole and an abrupt ending (even knowing that another book is on the way) don’t take too much away from a story that delivers action, conspiracy, and betrayal alongside a meditation on love, family connection, and humanity. Ages 12–up.