Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 05/15/2023 Two-hundred years after ecological collapse, humanity is divided into those on the surface—those living in PERCH compounds, delving for natural resources to grow food in the wasteland—and the rebel “sewerfolk” underground. Since her scientist parents died years ago on a mining expedition, 16-year-old Sarah “Cricket” Higashi has struggled to believe in PERCH’s mission, and she’s right to suspect them of villainy. After Cricket learns her parents are alive, she seeks them out in the world of tunnels and sewers deep beneath the surface. She runs afoul of PERCH soldiers, rival gangs, bounty hunters, and even alligators but luckily finds allies, too. Flood’s dystopian underground is a colorful patchwork of punk and western aesthetics, populated with humans and mutants that range from terrifying to goofy. Cute but hot-headed Cricket, dressed in yellow sanitation overalls and wielding a pipe like a sword, fits in perfectly. The kinetic illustrations and variety of page layouts, while crowded, capture the story’s fast-paced action. This first volume is a solid beginning for the raucous adventures to come. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 05/01/2023 Gr 9 Up—Sarah "Cricket" Higashi is in big trouble. The administrators of PERCH, the post-climate apocalyptic phosphorus mining town that has always been her home, are running out of patience with her refusal to work any of the array of abusive jobs they force her into. Now Mathis, her childhood teacher, has reappeared mysteriously out of the depths after years, infected with a horrifying fungus and spouting dangerous facts—including the idea that Cricket's parents, who she was always told died in a mining accident when she was a child, may in fact still be alive in a secret subterranean society. Daring and headstrong Cricket promptly sneaks her way into the mines, where she discovers the underground world Mathis told her about, populated with a surprising array of denizens, from cyborgs and gangsters to animal/human mutants called Hybrids. Luckily, Cricket falls in with a crowd who not only have heard of her notorious parents but are also willing to go to war with the powerful mining corporation on her family's behalf. Moody, angular, and dynamic illustrations help bring this rip-roaring story to life. With a diverse cast of characters, a fast-paced, action-packed plot, and an enticing cliff-hanger, this is a promising start to a series that will have readers clamoring for more. VERDICT A surefire recommendation for comics readers on the hunt for all things post-apocalypse; high adventure; and grungy, industrial sci-fi.—Darla Salva Cruz - Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.