On My Bookshelf: The Expedition by Chris Babu

The basic plot from Amazon: They survived the Initiation. Now the real test begins.

Drayden and his friends thought nothing could be harder than the Initiation. Little did they know it had only been a warmup for the challenge that lay ahead.

With New America’s situation dire, Drayden and the pledges venture into the unexplored world beyond the walls, escorted by a team of elite Guardians. The group seeks to contact another civilization in what remains of Boston, but Drayden has secret goals of his own.

Dangers abound in the outside world, including Aeru, the deadly superbug that wiped out humanity. While they battle the elements of a desolate landscape, a power struggle emerges within their ranks. The Guardians seem to be carrying out a covert mission themselves, and the quest turns everything they thought they knew about New America upside down.

Why I liked it: After reading The Initiation, book one in the series, I jumped right into The Expedition. While I liked the puzzles and riddles in The Initiation, I liked the realism of the struggles of Drayden and his friends as they ventured outside New America, their walled community, in The Expedition even better. This second book reminded me of a similarly realistic dystopian series, Life As We Knew It, particularly the final book in the series, The Shade of the Moon.

Because resources are running out in New America, Drayden, Charlie, Catrice, and Sydney barely have time to rest after completing the Initiation before they are sent out on a mission to make contact with Boston.They are accompanied by a team of four military guards and it quickly becomes clear that the two groups have different objectives. As the group suffers one disaster after another, they rely on their limited survival skills to carry on with their trek and risk making contact with groups of people who have been living outside of the walls of New America.

Drayden must use the same strategic thinking that got him through the Initiation except that the challenges are real rather than man made. His self-doubting unfortunately continues as does some of the awkward dialogue.

Classroom application: Just like the first book in the series, I would recommend this one for middle school and up. There's no concerning language, the romance and violence intensifies but are still pretty is PG, and drug references are few. Fans of The Walking Dead may appreciate this book in the series. You can also find more dystopian recommendations for your students here and here.

The treat of Aeru and the dangers of contact between Drayden and his friends and the world outside the walls of New America could be compared to the spread of disease that explorers caused in new lands and even settlers as they pushed West.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of The Expedition for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.