Reeve, Philip. Mortal Engines. New York: EOS (a division of HarperCollins), 2003. ISBN 0060082089
Tom Natsworthy lives in a city-eat-city world. Mobile cities cruise the earth, devouring weaker cities whenever they can. People like Tom are nothing but pawns in a mysterious plot that is just beginning to unfold — a plot that involves resurrecting the terrible weapon that laid waste to the earth centuries ago.
In a post-apocalyptic future, the world’s cities have become giant mobile constructions, rumbling across the devastated surface of the earth and devouring smaller cities in their path–a process known as Municipal Darwinism.
Aboard the City of London, a boy named Tom saves a man from an assassin’s attack. The man is the great archaeologist Thaddeus Valentine, a hero of Tom’s, and the would-be assassin is a hideously scarred girl named Hester Shaw. When Tom chases after Hester, she tells him it was Valentine who mutilated her face, and then she throws herself down a waste chute–and Tom is thrown after her. The two now find themselves outcast, city-less, alone in the wastelands. Somehow, the two have to get back to London and get back aboard…and Tom must decide where his loyalties lie.
Wildly inventive and very well-written, this is a fantastically gripping adventure story. Tom is a sympathetic character, and Hester is a believably flawed and tragic heroine, wrestling with terrible burdens. Reeve creates a world that is violent, disturbing, and gritty, but with flashes of wit and humor that keep it from getting too grim. Readers will also enjoy the other, equally exciting, installments in the Hungry City chronicles: Predator’s Gold, A Darkling Plain, and Infernal Devices, as well as the prequel, Fever Crumb.
About the author: Philip Reeve is both an author and a professional illustrator; his other books for young readers include the Buster Bayliss series, and No Such Thing as Dragons.
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- Genre:science fiction; fantasy
- Booktalking Ideas:
- Describe Municipal Darwinism–the concept of “survival of the fittest”, what happens when a city “devours” another city, etc.
- Talk about the story from Hester Shaw’s point of view–trekking through the Outlands searching for Valentine, getting aboard the City of London, etc.
- Compare the characters of Hester and Katherine
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- Age level: 12 to 15
- Challenge Issues: violence; several characters die, sometimes somewhat gruesomely
Challenge defense suggestions:
• Read or re-read the book and be familiar with the context of the questionable elements. The violent material serves a purpose to the plot and tone, and is never gratuitous
• Consult the library’s collection development and challenged materials procedural policies for guidance
• Consult the ALA’s strategies for dealing with challenges to library materials for a helpful collection of information, advice, and links to other resources.
• Note that the book received the Smarties Book Prize, and was nominated for many other awards
• Refer to starred reviews from School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly, which are available for viewing on bwibooks.com
• If possible, talk to tweens who have read the book and get reviews from them
Meet in the Middle 