Izzy at the End of the World

An alien apocalypse spotlights mental health matters in this pulse-pounding speculative survival novel from Reynolds (The Spinner of Dreams). When “unidentified flying lights” swarm Vermont, snatching most of the population, autistic 14-year-old Izzy Wilder and her “shepherd-mix disaster” Akka brave the afterscape to search for family, armed with a baseball bat to fight off the truck-size, tentacled monsters that have descended. Clues in a mix CD and journal that belonged to her late mother, which seemingly predicted the invasion, lead her to Raven, a tan-skinned, black-haired teen also searching for relations and eager to team up. But as nebulous rescue plans falter and the pervasive trauma of her mom’s death lingers, Izzy works to regulate her anxiety, trust impossible visions, and “defeat these gray ugly turd-burglars running our world.” Reynolds twines earth-shattering emotions with a larger-than-life plot, balancing the intensity—including explorations of mental health and suicide—with humor. Alongside pseudoscientific explanations, layered character arcs drive the plot while colloquial language and visceral metaphors ground the narrative in Izzy’s voice. Characters cue largely as white and queer, and represent multiple disabilities and mental health conditions. Ages 8–12. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Feb.)