It’s 2030, global warming is destroying earth and Mandalay Hawk has a decision to make: risk going to juvie jail or try to stop the biggest problem humankind has ever faced.
Mandalay Hawk’s Dilemma: The United States of Anthropocene is Peter Aronson’s third middle-grade book and his first novel. It will be published December 7, 2021, by independent publisher Double M Books.
Kirkus Reviews called it: “A scathing work and an essential blueprint for youth battling climate change.”
The story unwinds as The Biiiig Heat, the new global warming, is suffocating and swamping earth, causing death, destruction and mayhem like never before.
The only choice is KRAAP - KIDS REVOLT AGAINST ADULT POWER. Adults screwed up, Mandalay and her pals have to fix the problem.
There’s a march on Washington unlike any other. There’s cat and mouse with hundreds of armed soldiers. And then there’s rapping in the Oval Office to a captive president. With five billion people watching, these kids aren’t leaving until they get what they want.
It’s a middle-grade novel for our tumultuous, troubled and overheated times, for kids who care about the future.
Mandalay Hawk’s Dilemma: The United States of Anthropocene will be available on Amazon, IngramSpark and at select book stores around the country. (paperback, ISBN 978-1-7320775-3-9 [238 pages]; and ebook, ISBN 978-1-7320775-2-2)
Quarter Finalist
Assessment:
Plot: Peter Aronson is a former journalist who started writing for kids when he noticed his own children were reading mostly fantasy dystopian novels. Mandalay Hawk’s Dilemma, the first in a planned series, is also a futuristic fantasy, but the three teen protagonists aren’t going to settle for a dystopia; they’re going to try to prevent one. It’s 2030 and 13-year-old Mandalay Hawk’s first act of civil disobedience nearly gets her locked up in juvie, but then she and her dad move to New York City where Mandalay finds other like-minded kids, and they’re off as KRAAP: Kids Revolt Against Adult Power heads to D.C. to confront ineffectual leaders in person about the Big Heat, the exponential increase in temperatures that scientists had not predicted, and to present a plan of action to mitigate the damage.
Prose/Style: The novel is well-written in language easily accessible to middle grade readers. Aronson is skilled at keeping the action interesting while still introducing enough of the science to explain the protagonists’ concerns and actions.
Originality: Aronson has written a novel intended to evoke hope and action—to tell kids they do have agency even though the world’s problems seem overwhelming, even to adults.
Character Development/Execution: Aronson has crafted relatable teen characters whose relationships, insecurities, school challenges, and growth are as important as the message he wishes to convey. Mandalay was a hungry foster child before her new dad adopted her, Gute is a mixed-race boy whose mother abandoned the family years ago, and Jasmin was born in Morocco; her mother brought her to America when she was two after her father died. Mandalay, under a stricture from the judge to behave or have her probation revoked, learns to channel her justified anger into effective political action.
Blurb: Mandalay Hawk’s Dilemma is a futuristic fantasy, but one in which the three teen protagonists aren’t going to figure out how to live in a dystopia; they’re going to try to prevent one.
Date Submitted: August 23, 2021
"A scathing work and an essential blueprint for youth battling climate change." - Kirkus Reviews
