I read about this book a few weeks ago and quickly ordered it. I'm always looking for new alternative reality novels for my kids. It occurred to me while reading this how clever a writer has to be to write these types of novels. You can't just start writing a story- you have to write in such a way that makes the reader understand how the world is different from the world we currently know, without just coming right out and listing the differences. In Dark Life- Kat Falls does just that. She creates this unique world where some people live in the ocean, travel by unconventional methods and fight against the government. She does this in a way that makes the world she writes about come alive in your mind.
Dark Life is about a 16 year old boy named Ty who has lived in the water his whole life. He loves his life and can't wait to turn 19 so that he can own his own part of the ocean. Suddenly, Ty's life becomes more complicated- outlaws start attacking the settlement he lives in and the government is trying to change the rules. When Ty meets Gemma- a Topsider (someone who lives on land)the two of them go on quite an adventure under the water.
I love this glimpse into an alternative reality, I love how Falls paints these amazing pictures with her words of life under water and I liked the excitement of the story. The plot actually reminded me a lot of Kenneth Oppel's book Airborn (http://www.airborn.ca/). The relationship between the two main characters were pretty similar. I can't wait to share this book with kids in the fall- as a matter of fact- I know one student who I am going to send an email to right now suggesting this book as his summer read!
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