Twelve-year-old Hope lives in White Rock, a town struggling to recover from the green bombs of World War III. The bombs destroyed almost everything that came before, so the skill that matters most in White Rockk—sometimes it feels like the only think that matters—is the ability to invent so that the world can regain some of what it’s lost.
But Hope is terrible at inventing and would much rather sneak off to cliff dive into the Bomb’s Breath—the deadly band of air that covers the crater the town lives in—than fail at yet another invention.
When bandits discover that White Rock has invented priceless antibiotics, they invade. The town must choose whether to hand over the medicine and die from disease in the coming months or to die fighting the bandits now. Hope and her friends, Aaron and Brock, might be the only ones who can escape through the Bomb’s Breath and make the dangerous trek over the snow-covered mountain to get help. Inventing won’t help them, but the daring and risk-taking that usually gets Hope into trouble might just save them all.
Sky Jumpers is a fun, quick read for any ages eight and up.
First of all, I appreciate any great Children’s, Middle Grade, or Young Adult novel that has both parents of the main character alive. This is a hard thing to do, since the main character, a minor, needs to be the person who solves the conflict. Peggy Eddleman does this well with both parents alive. Without giving anything away, both parents are realistically out of the picture for Hope to accomplish what she needs to.
The characters are fantastic. Hope is a well-rounded character with a lot of depth and drive. She’s really easy to relate to. Society often has expectations of all of us, especially of children, and it’s difficult when they feel like they’re failing because they aren’t good at a particular thing. Hope shows that we can succeed in our own ways. I love that this is portrayed to a younger (and older!) audience. Although I wouldn’t consider Aaron a flat character, he was the typical best friend who would do anything for Hope. Don’t get me wrong. I love Aaron. I’ve seen this in many books and in my own writing as well. He’s not a flat character—It’s just done a lot. Brock is a fun character who is Hope’s rival. His mysterious backstory adds to his characterization and makes me love him all the more. He has strong motivation and goals that I can also relate to.
The pacing was perfect. There is conflict from the beginning with clear goals and motivation. Peggy Eddleman also did a fantastic job with letting Hope, a minor, play an important part throughout the entire novel. It’s easy to let the adults fix things, but it’s so much better when the kids learn to do it themselves. I was impressed with how it all played out.
There weren’t twists and turns that surprised me, but the story was an excellent read without being too complicated. I think that’s perfect for the age group that is the author’s main target audience, and as an adult, I really enjoyed reading it as well.
The world-building is well-done and not over descriptive. I was interested in all the aspects, and I didn’t get bored with too many details. There were also exciting aspects of the world that are fun and unique—like sky jumping.
Overall this book was a fun read. I will definitely add it to my collection and read it to my children. It’s better than chocolate, and I’m excited to read the next book in the series.
Kathy Lipscomb
