Jelly

Centering a largely white group stranded atop a gargantuan jellyfish, debut author Rees marries a darkly funny survival account with a climate change creature feature. After much of humankind is eaten or killed, teen narrator Martha, along with peers Kate, Lana, and James, is marooned alongside a group of adults, including a soldier, a scientist, and a mythology-interested crone. When they aren’t playing Jellyfish Rugby or otherwise weathering monotonous days, the kids strategize escape—past the creature’s tentacles, which continually pull jumpers back, and onto a dangerous coastline crawling with enormous, crablike kriks. After a string of failed attempts, a sudden revelation pushes the increasingly desperate crew to realize the existence of further lurking horrors. Using straightforward prose and believable interpersonal relationships to anchor the book’s more dramatic components—eroding coastlines, murderous monsters—Rees offers a testament to human ingenuity and younger generations’ fortitude while cautioning against ignoring environmental problems. Ages 12–up. [em](May) [/em]