Last Girl Standing

In this action-driven and oft-comedic sci-fi novel, 17-year-old Sierra Mendez must save her small California hometown of Los Patos from a mysterious entity that has stupefied the residents and replaced authority figures with androids. Sierra lives with her mother, an organic farmer who believes fluoride-treated water is poisonous. While fetching fresh water from the river one morning, Sierra finds the floating corpse of Los Patos’s water manager, and Sierra’s mom becomes the prime suspect. Suspicious of the new chief of police, Sierra soon realizes that drinking the tap water has caused everyone in town to enter into a catatonic zombie-like state. Matters only worsen when she notices that the stupefied watch the same subliminal message-imbued infomercials on repeat and that more sinister forces are at work. With the help of a few friends and an unlikely ally, Sierra sets out to stop the strange invasion. A near-rape scene feels gratuitous, and at times the narrative feels repetitive and contrived, but Kaptanoglu (Dreadmarrow Thief) offers an inclusive cast, a plot that allows for tension and tragedy as well as personal growth, and an adventure for our modern times. Ages 13–up. [em](Self-published.) [/em]