Let the good times roll! We're so proud of all our awesome authors and their glowing reviews this spring. Add another great one to David Patneaude and EPITAPH ROAD's pile this time from School Library Journal. Congrats, Dave!

PATNEAUDE, David. Epitaph Road. 272p. Egmont USA. 2010. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-60684-055-9; PLB $19.99. ISBN 978-1-60684-070-2. LC number unavailable.

Gr 6–10—Fourteen-year-old Kellen lives in a future in which 97 percent of the world's male population has been killed off by a virus. Women have taken over all governments and have relegated the remaining men to second-class-citizen status. Boys like Kellen have very few options. Something sinister is brewing, and an uprising of men who live independent of female rule coincides with a new outbreak of the virus. Kellen and his friends, Sunday and Tia, travel to the Olympic Peninsula to investigate and make sure that Kellen's dad, who lives in the colony, is protected from the virus. Each chapter begins with a haunting epitaph for one of the deceased. Most of these epitaphs express sorrow, but some are clearly for men who were abusive and are not missed by survivors. The story is fast paced, and the concept intriguing. The competent world-building allows readers to fully accept the book's premise. The author makes intriguing points about gender relations and the danger of polarization. The ending is satisfying in and of itself, but it does leave a potential opening for Kellen to have further adventures. This dystopian thriller will appeal to fans of the genre. Those who liked Neal Schusterman's Unwind (S & S, 2007), in particular, will appreciate the way a specific current-events issue is incorporated into a science-fiction context.—Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH

We're thrilled that Kirkus has taken such a liking to our last three books they've reviewed! The most recent in the line-up is the newly released EPITAPH ROAD by David Patneaude:

Fourteen-year-old Kellen Dent is one of the few males left on Earth after a plague in 2067 killed 97 percent of the males and left women in charge of the world. By 2097, wars have ceased, crime rates have dropped, prisons have emptied and the number of males is strictly controlled. More money now goes to health care, medical research, education and environmental concerns. However, Kellen and his friend Tia discover that the plague that killed billions of people was no natural disaster but was created on purpose, and Kellen's long-missing father is part of a movement to oppose those in power. The opening chapter describes the plague, and each chapter that follows opens with an epitaph for someone killed, effectively linking the plague year with Kellen's life 30 years later. The first-person point of view and the page-turning plot of this post-apocalyptic thriller will hook readers awaiting the final installment of the Hunger Games trilogy and provoke more than a few thoughts as well. (Science fiction. 10& up)