The Final Six

Gr 9 Up—In this tale of terror and dystopia, Earth faces its last days. No one knows how long they have. Humans are finally working together because they have a common enemy—the climate. Of course, the fate of humanity lies in the hands of six teenagers from around the world. The only answer is to force 24 teens (affectionately known as The Twenty-Four) to compete for six prized spots on a trip to Jupiter's moon, Europa, where they will begin to colonize it—unless it is already inhabited by intelligent life, but no one bothered to look that far ahead. Monir handles her action scenes elegantly, creating moments so intense the pages practically fly by. However, these moments are few and far between and struggle to be heard over the rest of the book. This sci-fi adventure is written from the first-person point of view of two narrators. The two protagonists, Naomi and Leo, though clearly meant to have distinct personalities, are difficult to tell apart. Leo stops using his distinct Italian words and phrases early on while Naomi's narrative never had something to distinguish it to begin with. The plot is also heavily reliant on popular young adult tropes and lacks originality, despite the possibility of aliens.