The Second Life of Snap and Force of Nature

Kelly, Erin Entrada. The Second Life of Snap
May 12, 2026 by Greenwillow Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Zuzu Santos lives in Subsidized Camp Five in a trailer. Her father works at Lockwood Associates in security, but has just lost his job. As severance, he is given a Secure Network Android Processor robot, known as Snap. He thinks that the robot will be a good way to keep track of Zuzu while he's looking for a job, but Zuzu doesn't trust anything that comes from "bounties" who live in protected areas, have technology, and are generally better off than those living in the Barrens are. Zuzu is used to hanging out with the other children in her small neighborhood that they call Bright Valley. Elias, Laiken, and Ant (the "Valleycats") all go to school with her, and like their teacher, Ms. Dagney, who isn't as fond of Lockwood Associates as she should be. Zuzu warms to Snap when he does household chores for her, and when Elias syncs his tablet with the robot, Snap seems to change some of the robot's functions. Snap now makes choices, and can lie. He is helpful to the children, detecting an old bike chain in a nearby lake that is useful to Elias, who is trying to build a bike. There is a farmer's market that the children go to, but it is a dangerous place. Elias takes a water filter that he has made and tries to sell it, but Grady, a child from the Driftwood community, steals the battery from it and breaks it. Dr. Li, who works with Ms. Dagney, still buys it from the children, and even buys fruit from Mabel for them. When Laiken's mother is ailing, the children borrow bikes from Nora and Costello from Sandtown and travel to Driftwood to try to get the battery back from Grady. Driftwood is even more fun down than Bright Valley, and Big Jim says the kids can have the battery only if he keeps a bike. Since Snap has been collateral for the bike, Zuzu has to trade information to Nora and Costello in order to keep Snap, who has become her friend. All through the story, we have known that Snap's charger is broken, and once his battery wears down, he will revert to factory settings. After a storm tears through Bright Valley, everyone survives, but the last scene shows that Zuzu was not able to keep Snap, although he does get a new battery and owner. 

Strengths: It is well within the realm of possibility that a technology company could take over the world, and that marginalized communities will suffer the effects of climate change and be housed in undesirable places in mobile homes, so the setting is quite true to life. The children in Bright Valley come from an array of backgrounds; Zuzu is Filipina, Elias is Mexican, Laiken is Black, and Ant is white. It's also likely that well to do communities will use a lot of technology. The salvage yard was interesting; in a dystopia, I imagine that the large landfills will be excavated, because judging from things I see thrown out, there has got to be a lot of very usable items there. Snap is a nice robot, which is a relief, since there are a lot of fictional robots who want to kill people. This is definitely a heart print book that merits a discussion about what it means to be human. 
Weaknesses: There are so many dystopian books. The world is horrible right now. It would be nice to see science fiction that depicted the world being a better place because children stepped up and made a difference. 

What I really think: Readers who found the dystopian worlds in Cartaya's The Last Beekeeper or Perry's Scavengers intriguing will find Bright Valley interesting, as will those who enjoyed the robots in Rodriguez and Ortega's  The Girl and the Robot or Warga's A Rover's Story. I am always confounded by people who become emotionally attached to robots that are not the Jetson's maid, Rosie. To me, it is akin to becoming attached to my microwave or vacuum cleaner, but I know that other people are different. 

Clark, Melissa. Force of Nature

May 19, 2026 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
 

High school junior Chloe Lovejoy lives on the West Coast with her mother, Laurel, and grandmother, Fern. She sees her father occasionally. Fern is a bit quirky, spending a lot of time watching the weather on television and going out to a shed in the yard. Laurel has trouble keeping a job, and there are many days where she doesn't get out of bed because she is hung over. A lot of household management falls to Chloe, who is a solid C student thinking about college, hanging out with her friends, and crushing on the very cute Curtis. On her sixteenth birthday, she hopes that she will get a car, but is disappointed when Fern gives her an antique key to the shed, which Fern calls the Maparium. It turns out that Fern is Mother Nature, and controls the weather all over the world. Now that Chloe is sixteen, she will be an apprentice, and come into her full powers at twenty one. Laurel is bitter that she has been passed over because of her poor life choices, and Chloe is a bit wary of the whole process until Fern makes a lemon tree in the yard magically bloom.  Chloe starts to read the Book of Nature and prepare for her role, but Fern dies suddenly and thrust Chloe into her new position. She consults Wade, who lives up on Mt. Kismo, after her mother throws the ancient book into the pool and there is a volcano in Switzerland. He gives her a device with the digitized book on it, and suggests how she can study. Since her friend Felix has had to drive her, he's in on her secret. After Chloe is involved in an uncharacteristic altercation with a teacher who tries to take the device away, thinking it is a phone, it is recommended that Chloe start therapy for her grief over Fern's death. Wade demands that Chloe spend more time in the Maparium actively controlling the weather, which interferes with her schoolwork. Things get strange when Laurel starts dating local weatherman Duncan Sunshine. He eventually finds out about the family connection to Mother Nature, and steals the key in order to further his television career. Will Chloe be able to learn on the job, keep the weather in check, and deal with her family and personal issues?
Strengths: What an absolutely fantastic premise! Of COURSE Mother Nature's role is passed down matrilineally! Chloe realistically tries to juggle school, dating, her friends, her mother, and all the weather in the world! The reasoning behind the mother being skipped was a big part of the story, and made a lot of sense. The father appeared just enough, and was able to share some back story Chloe didn't know. Digitzing the Book of Nature made perfect sense, and I would have gladly spent more time with Wade. Duncan Sunshine was the perfect villain, and added a bit of levity to the plot. I would have adored this book when I was in high school and all of my friends were reading heavy duty fantasy.

Weaknesses: Would it be better or worse to spend more time with Fern? She was such a great character, so it was sad that she died, but Chloe needed to work on her own. Perhaps if she had gone on vacation, and had been able to come back to teach Chloe some more and fix her messes, she wouldn't have had to die. I also wanted a little more about the weather and why Chloe's family was chosen to fill the role of Mother Nature. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want a magical book like Roberts' fantastic 2010 Green or Welch's Spells for Lost Things. I'm debating purchase for my middle school library; even though Chloe is in high school, the story is still appropriate for middle school, but I don't have as many readers for magical realism as I used to. The cover is great, so I'll order it if I have enough money next year. I would definitely order it for a high school library.