Midnight at the Electric

Midnight at the Electric
Jodi Lynn Anderson
HarperCollins, 2017 25 pages
Grades 8-Up
Science Fiction/Historical Fiction

It’s the year 2065 and half of America is under water because of Global Warming. Orphaned Adri, has been chosen to spend the rest of her days colonizing Mars. While she waits for her launch, she is sent to rest at the rundown Kansas farm belonging to a relative, whom she previously knew nothing about: elderly Lily.  While poking around, Adri discovers old letters dating back to the dust bowl days. We now hear the first person narration of Catherine, a teenager living in the dust bowl during the depression. Her little sister is so sick from the dust that Catherine desperately tries to save her by borrowing money to try an electrical cure at a pop-up carnival. The cure fails and Catherine must go to extreme measures, even abandoning the boy she loves. Another envelope of letters takes the story back another generation and we hear the tale of Lenore, who is morning the loss of her brother from the battlefields of WWI. She finds comfort in the arms of a disfigured young man who is hiding out in an outbuilding on her family's English property. By the book's end, Adri and Lily have bonded, the mystery of the authors of the letters is somewhat solved and the three stories come together, all connected by a single surviving Galapagos tortoise.

I have been holding onto this ARC for two years and finally decided that it was "now or never". So glad I went for it! This book has a little of everything: dystopia, historical fiction, mystery, and romance all rolled into one. It is a story-within a story-within a story, all coming together by the end. The title is only a very little part of the plot. It would have made more sense to name the book after the tortoise that binds the girls together, but electricity is flashier and will potentially sell more copies. All of the main characters were very different and distinctly drawn. Readers will feel as if they know them and will sympathize with their tales. Once I got started reading, I had a hard time putting the book down. I think Midnight at the Electric would appeal to a wide-range of readers, most notably teen girls, as it crosses genres and keeps readers guessing. Be prepared for tears, as there are several emotional moments. I am very surprised I haven't heard more about it from teen readers. I plan on passing it onto my seventeen year old daughter with perfect confidence that she will love it!