CATALYST, by S.J. Kincaid

The story: In the final book of the awesome "Insignia" trilogy, Tom Raines goes man-to-man against Vengerov, the evil chairman of Obsidian Corp who's planning to take over the world by sneaking neural processors into EVERYONE'S brain. Vengerov has thought up the perfect way to defeat Tom, and it's up to the one person Tom never expected to trust to help him beat the bad guys and change the world in unimaginable ways. Can Tom Raines the Nobody actually be the one destined to bring down the corrupt world of the multi-nationals and start it over with something shiny?

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG-13; Violence R; Sexual content PG; nudity PG; substance abuse PG-13; magic and the occult G; adult themes (abandonment, war, torture, killing, plans for world domination) PG-13; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: Here's a really great science-fiction series for 8th-up (or really good 7th grade readers of the sci-fi persuasion). The final book focuses more specifically on Tom, and much less on his friends, as our hero tries to find out who's stolen his secret identity as "The Ghost in the Machine" and is now using it for evil, and on Tom's figuring out his relationships with Blackburn and Vengerov (and of course, Medusa). Tom's friends, especially Vik, seem sadly absent, but Kincaid is on a mission here, and she accomplishes it nicely.

STORM (SYLO Chronicles #2), by D.J. MacHale

The story: It's the US Navy (also known as SYLO) against the "Retros": an unseen enemy that's taken over the Air Force, obliterated 3/4 of the people on the planet, and started what seems to be a second Civil War. On their own, with the RETROs' deadly black fighters on their trail, Tucker, Tori, Olivia and Kent start a frantic cross-country journey to find and get their revenge on whoever's behind all this. But first they have to face betrayal from within...

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG-13; Violence R; Sexual Content PG; Nudity PG-13; Substance Abuse PG; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (genocide, murder, death of a close friend) PG-13; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: Another second-of-three volume that spends most of its time incrementally moving the story forward without actually coming to a resolution. Still, there's lots going on here that will keep readers (especially boys) engaged, which is something to cheer all by itself!

UNDIVIDED, by Neal Shusterman

The story: It's been two years since Connor, Lev, and Risa met while on their way to being "unwound"--their broken society's answer with what to do with problem teens (cut them up into individual parts and transplant all the bits and pieces into other people who need medical replacements--yikes!). Camus Comprix is also dealing with the ultimate challenge of his short life...and there's always a stray parts dealer, like Argent Skinner or Jasper Nelson, trying to make a buck on the unsuspecting kid out alone a little too late at night. Will Sonia Rheinschild's 3D organ printer ever see the light of day, and bring an end to the messed-up society that kills its own young?

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG-13; Violence R; Sexual Content PG; Nudity PG; substance Abuse PG; magic and the occult G; GLBT content PG; adult themes (feral teens, euthanasia, parental abandonment) PG-13; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: This is the fourth book in what was originally planned as a trilogy. I'm not sure how Shusterman could have crammed everything into three books, but he might have been better off doing so, anyway: this whole volume had the feeling of tying up the loose ends, without much new to think about. Yeah, you were wondering about what happened to everyone, but it seems like there was 100 pages' worth of closure mixed in with 300 pages' worth of extraneous stuff to make up the page count. (Or, there's always the suspicion that it was just about making the money off the extra, not-quite needed last volume.) Still, a must-read if you've made it through the first three!