Early Review – The Only Ones by Aaron Starmer (4/5 stars)
Genre: Science Fiction/Mystery
Size: 336 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Release Date: September 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0385740432
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from Publisher
Rating: 4/5 stars
I got an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher. I loved the synopsis of the book and was excited to read it. It was an excellent middle grade post-apocalyptic read full of mystery.
Martin Maple lives with his dad on a small island. Him and his dad work on building a machine when it is not summer; when it is summer they deal with the various tourists that show up. That is until one day Martin’s dad sails away and is never seen again…and the tourists stop coming. After living a couple of years all by himself on the island Martin decides to go inland where he finds an abandoned earth and the town of Xibalba. Xibalba is run by a bunch of pre-teen kids. All the kids are exceptionally good at something and none of them really miss the rest of humanity. It will be up to Martin to point them towards a higher cause and to help them discover what really happened on Earth and what if it could be fixed?
This was a wonderful book. At first you don’t even know it is about the world ending as we know it. Martin is so secluded he doesn’t know the difference between humanity being there and not being there. It’s an interesting concept and well done in this book.
The town of Xibalba is also an interesting concept. The idea of only children (pre-teens) being left to run things isn’t a new one. But the idea that each child left behind is a genius in one particular area is interesting. Add to this the fact that each of the children is interested in their special area so exclusively that a lack of a world and other humans doesn’t affect them all that much and the story is even more interesting.
The book was very engaging and well written. The mystery behind what happened to Earth really propels the story forward.
Even though I enjoyed that story a lot, there were a few things that I had some issues with as well. First of all Martin lived on the island for over a year all by himself? How did he get food and fresh water? It was something that was glossed over for Martin, but then when you get to Xibalba this issue is dealt with in detail. I would have liked at least a passing comment on how Martin survived all that time. Secondly the characters are never all that engaging; they are okay and some of them are interesting but I never really felt all that involved with them or drawn to them.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges: