Gr 6 Up—In 2101, when most of humanity has been forced underground to avoid lethal sun exposure, Elvie
accompanies scientist Flora on a daring journey to find Elvie's parents while working to develop a life-saving
vaccine. Riveting action sequences, rich character development, and wholly believable worldbuilding combine for an
unforgettable adventure.

You'd think a story with people worried about being killed by sunlight would involve vampires . . . but nope.

You'd think a post-apocalypse story with people running around waving butterfly nets must be about how the stark conditions have driven them insane . . . but nope.

You'd think loading the story with educational material about the life cycles and migratory routes of monarch butterflies would tend to bog things down . . . but . . . well, yeah, yeah, it does. But that's mostly the first third of the book, and things improve considerably in the back end.

In a kiddy variation on Cormac McCarthy's The Road, Flora and Elvire, a woman and a ten-year-old girl, wander a post-apocalyptic landscape in the year 2101. Humanity has been driven to the brink of extinction due to a change in the quality of sunlight that causes a fatal change in heart rhythms (?!), so most people live deep underground during the day to block the lethal rays. But Flora has developed a medicine from monarch butterflies that gives temporary protection so she and Elvire can walk in daylight, and she is working on a permanent cure.

There are dangerous natural disasters to survive, but of course the most hazardous part of their lives is deciding which surviving humans to fear and and which to trust. About a third of the way through they break out of their insular science fair mode, where there are too many expositional pages of text, and start interacting with other people so the story can finally start building up some momentum. By the end, I was quite engaged with their ups and downs and really pulling for them to catch a break.

(Another project! I'm trying to read all the picture books and graphic novels on the kids section of NPR's Books We Love 2022.) ( )

Love the post-apocalyptic world suffering from climate change(?) the environmental message. Because of the fun worldbuilding, it kept the animal and environmental facts engaging. And the artwork was just lovely. I wanted to see more of this world. ( )

middlegrade/teen/adult graphic fiction - 10y.o. helps her caretaker look for a cure so that people will be able to tolerate the sun again post-apocalypse. There's no language or romance, but there are some potentially scary scenes involving the threat of marauders, being abandoned, etc. that I suppose a middlegrader (or younger) can handle. I'd rate this PG because they might have some questions, but I suppose it's no more traumatic than some Disney movies.

I loved this as an adult reader; not sure whether kids would be into apocalypse-type story arcs, but on the other hand I can't see any reason why they wouldn't.
The graphic illustrations and notebook/journal pages create an immersive experience and I got really into the story and the characters. The kids are super cute and everyone's got a little backstory; this was a fun one to read. ( )