cover image Mila 2.0

Mila 2.0

Debra Driza. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99 (480p) ISBN 978-0-06-209036-2

Mila believes she's an average 16-year-old girl who has moved to a new town following the death of her father. An accident reveals that Mila is actually an android%E2%80%94specifically, a super-covert robot spy developed by a shadowy government project%E2%80%94and her "mother" is a scientist who stole her from the lab to save her from being destroyed after Mila developed human emotions. Hunted by both the government and an organization seeking to sell her tech to the highest bidder, Mila and her mother flee, and Mila will have to embrace both her abilities and her humanity to survive. Driza's debut is likely to hit the sweet spot for YA fans%E2%80%94it's SF set in the modern world with just enough romance, angst, and action to balance the improbably amazing technology. Many plot elements are laid out in this trilogy opener, but character development is skimpy. Cinematic and overly dramatic ("Why? Why even steal me in the first place if you were never really going to let me live?" Mila whispers), it's not surprising that Driza's novel is already in development as a TV series. Ages 13%E2%80%93up. Agent: Taylor Martindale, Full Circle Literary. (Mar.)