Surface Tension by Mike Mullin
My rating: 4/5 cats
MIKE MULLIN HAS A NEW SERIES!
although this book has ZERO supervolcanoes, it is in many respects similar to his superb Ashfall series (WHEN IS BOOK FOUR COMING OUT, MIKE MULLIN???), particularly in the way he writes his characters. they feel familiar in the best way possible – dependable, rather than predictable – a comforting reminder of “oh yeah, this is what he’s so good at.”
his characters always have a refreshing lack of bullshit to them -they are level-headed, practical, quick-thinking, resourceful, and they don’t do emo or histrionics. it’s not that they’re miniature adults – there’s plenty of dorky teen dialogue and awkwardness, but they are always very smart teens, capable and impressive while still staying within reasonable standards of teenage abilities.
this one is slightly less-so, because the specialized skills in Ashfall & co were mostly connected to wilderness survival and rebuilding in the aftermath of a profoundly destructive natural disaster, and kids knowing how to fix stuff and build stuff and grow stuff is all perfectly believable and age-appropriate knowledge for eagle scouts, rural teens, outdoorsy types and really any intellectually curious teen with a library card.
Surface Tension is more of a tom clancy/james patterson-type thriller for teens – a genre in which you tacitly agree to suspend your disbelief when you choose to read it, because it’s much more fun to get swept up in the action than to nitpick plausibility, and this book is at least twice as realistic as Scandal – and much more consistent – and Scandal is a boatload of fun:
speaking of histrionics…
and even within the context of a domestic terrorism thriller with teenage assassins and an amnesia element, where teens navigate complex life-or-death situations without a great deal of adult supervision or even presence, where jake sustains and guts out enough injuries that it made me ache just to read about them, and where the authorities are – for the most part – inept, corrupt, or bullying if not flat-out murderous, there’s still so much realism; so much that was clearly researched – details and flourishes that make the dodging bullets and thwarting villainous plots parts if not always 100% plausible, at least not the only thing to look at. there are a lot of cool little nerdy sciency details, but obviously the best one is the “how to replicate the bermuda triangle in your own backyard” part. spoiler alert – you need to have really specific connections/resources/access which you likely do not have. stick to baking soda volcanoes. baking soda SUPERVOLCANOES!
i keep coming back to character, but it’s because they are so winning. laurissa is formidable. whether she’s saving jake’s life or cleaning up his wounds afterwards, sweet-talking salespeople or scheming out intel, she’s just a wonderfully no-nonsense heroine who’s maybe more accomplished in the car chase/jumping out of windows department than your average teen, but the fact that she’s also great at taking charge in real-world settings somehow makes it all seem more realistic – she’s competent across the board, and honestly, the scene where she’s calling her credit card company and the dmv &etc is, to me, her most impressive and heroic moment. i go limp when i have to deal with that stuff – it just flattens me and she’s just like beep beep boop gettin’ it done.
and while we’re on character – which we never truly left, but whatever – since the current trend is to simultaneously blast YA authors for “not enough diversity” and also blast them for cultural appropriation or lack of authenticity when they try to be representative, lemme just say that i think mike mullin, grown-ass white man, does just fine writing a teenage, female, african american character. i’m only qualified to weigh in on half of that (2/3 if you count the fact that once i was a teenager), but he’s always written fantastic teengirl characters with a healthy “gender roles – who needs ‘em!” attitude, and the fact that he doesn’t write flimsy skinny flustered girls of any race is worth celebrating.
plus, he writes excellent boyfriends. as geeky as they are, jake and alex are what girls really want. pretty vampires and brooding bad boys are fine for fantasies, but a respectful, attentive boy who accepts boundaries without hesitation and isn’t too proud to let his lady save the day? that’s a keeper.
special bonus points for kindly librarians!
but damn, that cliffhanger…
