Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Synopsis
"In 2028, a deadly Flu virus ravages the earth. Only one in two thousand survive the virus, and these "Survivors" are rarely left unaffected. By 2038, only 38 million people remain on Earth. Most of them live in small communities, ever fearful of outsiders who might bring the deadly Flu."Ceej Kane lives with his uncle and his Survivor sister Harryette in an abandoned hotel on the rim of the Grand Canyon. His quiet, boring life suddenly becomes a desperate adventure when Uncle and Harryette disappear. Searching for them, Ceej and his only friend, Tim, are attacked by the Kinka, a renegade band of half-mad Survivors who spread the Flu to make more of their own. Worse yet, it appears that Harryette has joined them. Fleeing deep into the Canyon, a narrow land of ghosts and ancient secrets, Ceej and Tim meet Bella, a mysterious Hopi girl. She has been searching the canyon for the Sipapuni, a mystical portal that the Hopi believe leads to another world. Tim thinks Bella is crazy, but Ceej is not so sure. Maybe there is a way out of this Flu-ravaged world. But first they must find out what happened to Uncle, and they must save Harryette from the Kinka -- if she wants to be saved.
Is Hole in the Sky appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 13 and up.
This YA post-apocalyptic fantasy contains themes of pandemic devastation, missing family members, pursuit by dangerous groups, and moderate violence. The story balances grim survival elements with hopeful quest narrative and cultural mysticism.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include death, mass death, and plague/epidemic (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens will be drawn to Ceej's desperate search for his family across a plague-ravaged landscape and into the mysterious depths of the Grand Canyon where an ancient portal might offer salvation.