Sky Jumpers by Peggy Eddleman (review)

The bombs of World War III spared pockets of citizens across the United States, and the community of White Rock, terraced in levels down the sides of a crater, has managed to thrive in a modest way. Most twenty-first-century technologies don’t work, thanks to distortion of metals and magnetism, but the inventiveness of White Rock’s population compensates with ingenious labor-saving devices. Twelve-year-old Hope might be a washout as an inventor, but she has a valuable skill known only to her closest friends—she’s got the guts and the lung capacity to jump through bands of toxic air, known as Bomb’s Breath, that surround the town. When bandits hold the community hostage for its supply of antibiotics, Hope and her friends sneak out and make their way through a snow storm to bring in an armed militia from nearby Browning and save the day. The politics behind the war and the science behind the bombs and toxic air are given fairly short shrift, and the title is notably stronger on action scenes than character development. Although this is the first entry in a projected series, the bandit problem is so tidily wrapped up by the story’s end that, but for the escape of one villain, it seems complete in one volume. The lack of a cliffhanger, however, might make this all the more inviting for kids who want a quick, event-filled read in a cleverly crafted setting, without committing to a multi-title epic.