Exodus

by Julie Bertagna

Book Overview

Less than a hundred years from now, the world as we know it no longer exists. Cities have disappeared beneath the sea, technology no longer functions, and human civilization has reverted to a much... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802797458
• ISBN13: 9780802797452
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Walker & Company
• Length: 345 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.2" x 8.1"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

What if everything you've heard about global warming is true -- and we haven't done enough to change the course of events? Mara is a fifteen-year-old girl who lives on the island of Wing. The polar ice caps are melting, flooding most of the earth. What is left of Mara's primitive island is rapidly being claimed by the rising tide. Among the ruins of an abandoned cyberworld Mara meets another, someone who promises her that there is a safe haven in the New World. Mara convinces the people of her island that their only chance for survival is to sail north, where the sky cities can provide shelter against the rising storms and tides. However, they arrive to find that walls have been built around the city and that they are just a few of the refugees who are gathered around, hoping for entry. Life in the boat camp is a grim existence. Illness, hunger and death have penetrated the lives of Mara's group. Overwhelmed with guilt, Mara sets out to find a way to save her friends. With a little help, Mara makes her way inside the gates and sets about to infiltrate the New World city of New Mungo. How can one girl face such insurmountable odds and save her people against a formidable adversary? Can she really take on an entire city to save her friends? If only she could find her cyberworld acquaintance, maybe he could help Mara. EXODUS is a sobering reminder of the future we face if global warming is allowed to continue unchallenged. Julie Bertagna has presented a somber picture of what life may be like in the year 2099. She has balanced desperation with the enduring power of hope. When humans have hope, no challenge seems too difficult to face. The stark subject of the story is balanced with a fluid writing style that keeps you turning the pages and hoping for the best. EXODUS is already an international best seller and is being released to US readers in April 2008. This is one of those stories that will stay with you forever. Reviewed by: JodiG.

Heart-rending but unsentimental; a truly stunning book

Mara's island home is slowly drowning beneath storm-tossed waves. As mighty icecaps melt, the Earth is losing its land to the ocean--and Mara knows she and her whole community will soon drown. Howewver, there may still be hope. For Mara's favourite occupation is visiting the Weave (a version of the World Wide Web) on her portable cyberwizz (an outdated piece of "virtual reality" type technology, powered by solar batteries) and there she sees something extraordinary--hints of a New World, rising from the sea and reaching into the sky; cities where desperate refugees can surely find safety.In a frantic bid for survival, Mara and her friends set sail in the ultimate exodus. But Mara's quest will become something even greater--a journey into humanity's capacity for good and evil, and a heart-wrenching story of love and loss ..."Intellectually rigorous and bursting with humanity, this is a book to read again and again," said the Sunday Herald.What could I possibly add this this? Exodus is a truly stunning book, an engrossing read for both young people and adults, and deserves to win many awards and become a top bestseller. Unfortunately, the latter is unlikely; it's seldom the best books that become bestsellers.Warning: If sad stories tend to make you weep, keep plenty of tissues handy. Julie Bertagna tells her story without a hint of sentimentality, but its powerful simplicity is still bound to land some readers in tears.

Exodus

Exodus is one of the best, most exiting books that I have ever read (and believe me, I've read quite a few). It is set in the year 2100 and in it, young Mara Bell, from the island of Wing (a lonely island that loses more and more of its land to the hungry ocean every year) sets out on a truly terrific journey to save her people (and then later the Treenesters and the slaves) and to find them a new place to live. In her fantastic journey she meets many new friends like the young orphan who she names Wing, after her drowned island, Gorbals, the Treenester and Fox, her greatest friend. However, she also makes many enemies, like Tony Rex the rook, Pollock Halfgood and, in a way, Caledon, the Grand Father of All. There are several unexpected twists and a brilliant, if heart-wrenching, ending. I am eagerly hoping for a sequel to come out. However I'm not giving anything else away so you'll have to read it yourself to find out what happens!

Riveting and moving - not just a children's book...

A lyrical, sweeping, epic story of survival against the odds. It is 2099 - and the world is gradually drowning, as mighty Arctic ice floes melt, the seas rise, and land disappears forever beneath storm-tossed waves. For 15-year-old Mara, her family and community, huddted on the fast-disappearing island of Wing, the new century brings flight. Packed into tiny boats, a terrifying journey begins to a bizarre city that rises into the sky, built on the drowned remains of the ancient city of Glasgow. But even here there is no safety and, shut out of the city, Mara realizes they are asylum-seekers in a world torn between high-tech wizardry and the most primitive injustice. To save her people, Mara must not only find a way into the city but also search for a new land and a new home...

Wow....

The world, about 100 years from now. Polar ice caps have all melted, leaving the people of the Earth searching in vain for suitable land to live on. The fate of the Earth lies in the hands of one ordinary girl, or so it was predicted in ancient carvings in stone. With memorable characters and a great storyline where fantasy and reality as we know it touch, this is one cool book. It is amazing, partly due to the fact that it is written so cleverly, it could almost be real... it makes one think, really think, of what the future has in store for the Earth.