The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Title: The 5th Wave

Author: Rick Yancey

ISBN: 9780142425831

Publisher: Penguin Group

Copyright Date: 2013

Genre: Science Fiction; Apocalyptic

About the Author:

Rick is the author of fifteen novels and a memoir. His books have been published in over thirty languages and have earned numerous accolades and awards from around the world. His young adult novel, The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, was named a "Best Book of the Year" by Publishers Weekly and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal. In 2010, Rick received a Michael L. Printz Honor for The Monstrumologist. The sequel, The Curse of the Wendigo, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His latest novel, The 5th Wave, the first in an epic sci-fi trilogy, made its worldwide debut in 2013, and will soon be a major motion picture for GK Films and Sony Pictures.

Yancey, R. About Me. http://www.rickyancey.com/about.

Curriculum Ties:

•  Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
• Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

Plot Summary:

 The 5^th Wave is set in the near future where mankind has been mostly wiped out because of a series of alien attacks. In a series of flashbacks, we learn from Cassie, a sixteen-year-old girl, that the aliens came to the sky and began to kill humans with no explanation. The final attack was by aliens who looked like people who killed Cassie’s father and kidnapped her brother, also leaving her unable to trust anyone. Zombie, a boy who went to high school with Cassie, is at the base where the aliens have taken Cassie’s brother, and he begins to train to hunt down aliens. Cassie begins to go toward the base to find her brother, but is shot on the way. When she wakes up, she finds that a boy named Evan has taken her in, and they begin to have feelings for one another. Cassie and Zombie now must figure out who they can trust and who the real enemy is.

Critical Evaluation:

 In this book, there is a general theme of hopelessness and loss of trust. This is personified in Cassie, who has lost almost everyone she knows, has watched her father be killed by the military, and lives in constant fear of meeting another person. Even when she meets Evan, she is incapable of trusting him, though he has saved her life and taken care of her while she was unconscious. Zombie abandoned his family when attacked by muggers, and lives with the shame that comes with such an act and finds out that the army, the force he has trusted, is using him. Despite this, they both refuse to give up and each end up trying to save Cassie’s brother Nugget, the one character that demonstrates trust in others. This, along with Evan’s changing of sides, ends the book on a hopeful note, showing that there may be hope after all.

Readers Annotation:

Cassie has had everything she loved taken from her; friends, family, and her home, by the aliens that have invaded earth. However, when her brother was taken from her, she made a promise to go find him, and she will keep that promise even if it kills her. 

Book Talking Ideas:

• Talk about the different ways that the aliens attack earth. Think about what you would do in that situation.
• Talk about Cassie's relationship's with her family. Look how that gets her through bad situations. 

Reading Level/Interest Age: 14-18

Challenge Issues:

•  Regular violence, including graphic descriptions of injuries and murder.
• Some sexual references though no acts are committed in this book.
• Regular cursing and swearing throughout the book.

Defense Collection:

•  Grades 9-12 The  Monstrumologist series set a bar for YA horror nearly impossible to match. Can Yancey do the  same for sci-fi? He makes a hell of an effort with this ambitious series starter set in the  aftermath of a crushing alien invasion in which the  aliens themselves never appeared. Seven billion humans have died in the  months following the  appearance of a giant mother ship. Wave  1: an electromagnetic pulse rendering all machines useless. Wave  2: tsunamis wiping out coastal cities. Wave  3: the  Red Death, a deadly plague carried by birds. Wave  4: Silencers, humans who were implanted with alien intelligence as fetuses. We don’t even want to know about Wave 5 —do we? Monstrumologist fans will be surprised to discover that Yancey grounds his multiperspective survivalist thriller in two fairly conventional YA voices: Cassie, 16, whose grim solitary existence changes when she is rescued by hunky but mysterious Evan; and Zombie, 17, ex–sports star thrown into a brutal boot camp to train as an alien killer. Yancey’s heartfelt, violent, paranoid epic, filled with big heroics and bigger surprises, is part War of the  Worlds, part Starship Troopers, part Invasion of the  Body Snatchers, and part The  Stand, but just close enough to dystopic trends to make this a sure thing for reviewers and readers alike. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hype has been heavy since a big preempt sale and an announced 500,000 first printing. Film rights are sold, tours are planned, ads will be omnipresent—need we say more? -- Kraus, Daniel (Reviewed 02-01-2013) (Booklist, vol 109, number 11, p51)
• The  challenge? Surviving the  genocide of the  human race when aliens attack Earth in the  not-too-distant future. Sixteen-year-old Cassie, her brother Sam and her dad survived the  first four gruesome waves  of the  attack. Together, the  three wait out the  titular fifth in a military base for survivors until school buses arrive to take all children to safety, including her brother Sam. Cassie, her dad and the  rest of the  adults are then divested of their weapons and marched into a bunker by their protectors. Cassie escapes, only to see her dad (and everyone else) brutally executed by their so-called protectors. She then embarks on a mission to rescue her brother. As in his previous efforts (The  Monstrumologist, 2009, etc.), Yancey excels in creating an alternative world informed by just enough logic and sociology to make it feel close enough to our own. The  suspension-of-disbelief Kool-Aid he serves goes down so easy that every piece of the  story--no matter how outlandish--makes perfect sense. The  500-plus-page novel surges forward full throttle with an intense, alarming tone full of danger, deceit and a touch of romance. The  plot flips back and forth with so much action and so many expert twists that readers will constantly question whom they can trust and whom they can't. Best of all, everything feels totally real, and that makes it all the  more riveting. Nothing short of amazing. (Science fiction. 14 & up)(Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2013)
• Awards:
• Iowa High School Book Award
• Keystone to Reading Book Award (Pennsylvania): High School level
• Library Journal Best YA Lit for Adults
• Sequoyah Book Awards (Oklahoma): High School Books
• South Carolina Book Awards: Young Adult Books
• Westchester Fiction Award (California)
• YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2014
• YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Post-Apocalyptic: It's the  End of the  World As We Know It (2016)
• YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: Fiction: 2014
• Young Reader's Choice Award (Pacific Northwest): Intermediate
• Reconsideration Policy
• Freedom to Read Statement
• ALA Library Bill of Rights
• Springville Public Library Collection Development Policy
• The Library Director and designated staff actively evaluate and select materials. The Springville Public Library Board, acting under the authority given to it by Title 4, Chapter 6 of the Springville Municipal Code and Title 09 of the Utah State Code, has the ultimate responsibility for the determination of the policies for selection and acquisition of materials.
• Library materials are selected based on the following (not necessarily in order of priority):
• Local public demand and usage potential
• Popularity
• Subject coverage
• Relevance
• Accuracy and currency
• Presentation, readability and format
• Point of view (all sides)
• Cost
• Local connection
• Social values
• Collection balance
• To assess the item based on the above criteria, staff utilize:
• Nationally recognized and relevant pre-publication reviews
• Staff expertise
• Bestseller lists

Purpose in Collection:

This is a popular YA fiction book, with a teenage girl who is a strong main character. It is highly awarded, and there is a movie adaptation, which means that it is likely a book that would be checked out regularly.