MIDDLE GRADE SPECULATIVE (Fantasy) FICTION : Cleo Porter and the Body Electric by Jake Burt
ABOUT THE BOOK
A woman is dying. Cleo Porter has her medicine. And no way to deliver it.
Like everyone else, twelve-year-old Cleo and her parents are sealed in an apartment without windows or doors. They never leave. They never get visitors. Their food is dropped off by drones. So they're safe. Safe from the disease that nearly wiped humans from the earth. Safe from everything. The trade-off?
They're alone. Thus, when they receive a package clearly meant for someone else--a package containing a substance critical for a stranger's survival--Cleo is stuck. As a surgeon-in-training, she knows the clock is ticking. But people don't leave their units.
Not ever. Until now.
Like everyone else, twelve-year-old Cleo and her parents are sealed in an apartment without windows or doors. They never leave. They never get visitors. Their food is dropped off by drones. So they're safe. Safe from the disease that nearly wiped humans from the earth. Safe from everything. The trade-off?
They're alone. Thus, when they receive a package clearly meant for someone else--a package containing a substance critical for a stranger's survival--Cleo is stuck. As a surgeon-in-training, she knows the clock is ticking. But people don't leave their units.
Not ever. Until now.
REVIEW
Cleo Porter plans to be a surgeon like her mother. She's working hard to prepare for the test she must pass to continue her training. The arrival of a package through her apartment's delivery tube distracts her. A devastating pandemic lead to the dystopic conditions under which Cleo and her parents live. She has never left her family apartment. All her training and outside communicating is handled through various forms of technology. All deliveries come through a tube. And mistakes just don't happen. Yet the package that was just delivered is addressed to someone who doesn't live with them and contains life-saving medicine.
Despite her parents' explanation that the delivery system doesn't make mistakes and that she should just forget about the package, Cleo can't let go of the idea that the person will die if she doesn't get her medicine. Cleo takes matters into her own hands and climbs out of her family's apartment through the tube. She takes a few supplies, the package, and her device through which she talks with her AI instructor, Mrs. VAIN. But Cleo finds herself facing enormous challenges trying to find the mysterious person not to mention avoiding all the different types of drones. After confronting a number of difficulties, Cleo finds herself outside of the building. This is shocking for someone who has never been outside. And discovering that there are people living outside is even more startling. And then there's the problem of getting back inside to deliver the package and return to her family.
Cleo makes a great heroine. Her determination, intelligence, and compassion keep her moving even after she encounters numerous challenges. What makes the book especially interesting is that Cleo spends most of the book fighting to get through the building and past the drones. I wouldn't have thought that a book with so few human interactions could be so compelling. But the drones prove to be formidable foes at worst and annoying obstacles at least. Except one small observation drone that sort of becomes her 'friend'. With so few human characters, the few that do show up are rather important. A surprising twist at the end changes the way Cleo sees the things she's experienced. Overall, I found this book a well-written, compelling story with interesting themes related to ethics, family and friends, and sacrifice.
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