the phoenix files

2/5/2017

"The end of the world is one of those things that you never really expect to end up being your problem." As a high school English teacher, I recognize the value of a catchy first line. And this one, beginning Chris Morphew's six-book series The Phoenix Files, makes the cut.

I'm always looking for good reads for my students, so I was curious to see what this series was all about. Dystopian fiction is all the rage with teens these days, and book one of The Phoenix Files has all the signs of a good dystopian novel: a boy and his newly divorced mom leave their old life in Perth behind in exchange for life in Phoenix, a new, planned community somewhere in the Australian outback - with promises of a great job, a safe town, and a strong community.

Luke, the boy, starts noticing fishy things around the town (why have the cell phones been out for months? why are cars strictly prohibited?) - and we discover that there's a plot to eradicate the rest of the Earth, keeping only the inhabitants of Phoenix safe. Luke, along with his new friends Peter and Jordan, are determined to figure out what's really going on and to stop this sinister plot from being carried out.

Now, dystopian fiction is great for thinking through what we value as a society and what underlying problems will ultimately rise to the surface... but this mode of fiction can feel stale after the fourth series you've read with a similar premise. And I'll admit, book one of The Phoenix Files, Arrival, dances with this topic in its elements of predictability, albeit entertaining and nail-biting.

However, once you finish Arrival and jump into book 2 of the series (Contact), you quickly discover the plot has diverged from typical dystopian fiction into adventure-thriller-science fiction-apocalyptic-dystopian in a way I haven't yet seen from teen fiction. The constantly shifting plot lines are sure to hold a teen's interest through the end of the series. It's refreshing to see a familiar - but still thought-provoking - story concept veer far from the beaten track while still making the reader think.

Arrival is fast-paced, filled with twists and turns, and characters you easily fall into step with. The succeeding novels in the series rotate between the points of view of Luke, Peter, and Jordan, which adds a layer of depth to what you understand about this bizarre town of Phoenix.

It's that book (or series) you think you know but that continues to surprise you through the final page.

Book benefits:

Twists and turns and fast-paced plot will hook middle and high school readers
Teen protagonists with realistic voices make the story easy to relate to for teen readers
This is a six-part series - if you like the first, there are five more waiting for you!
With a Lexile range between 660 and 800 for the series, these books are engaging but won't be too difficult for reluctant readers
The books average 340 pages each (the final is longer, at 432 pages) - so ambitious readers will fly through, while reluctant readers will not feel bogged down
The books are set in Australia, which will be a refreshing change for American readers