In the not-too-distant future, in a place call Satellite City, thirteen-year-old Cosmo Hill is unfortunate enough to come into the world unwanted by his parents. And so, as are all orphaned boys his age, Cosmo is dipped in a vaccine vat and sent to the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenges Boys. But when Cosmo attempts to escape, he finds himself caught in a web far worse that he could have ever imagined, embroiled with private police, illegal racing gangs, and a corporation cover-up, until he discovers a horrifying secret that will force him to question everything he knows and everything he believes in.
Two features jump out to the listener of this YA science fiction novel. The first is that narrator Chiwetel Ejiofor performs brilliantly. He captures the cast of characters, teens who are forced to grow up fast because of the predicament they find themselves in. Ejiofor's accents are convincing, his timing impeccable. The second is that the story itself reads a bit like a futuristic OLIVER TWIST with its focus on orphans trying to survive in a brutal orphanage. In this case, the orphans are used as experimental guinea pigs for dangerous products; most don't live beyond the age of 15 and die cruel deaths. Colfer's imaginative story asks thoughtful questions that teens will enjoy pondering. S.D. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
