Putting Up Roots (Turtleback)

Once there, it seems that everything is amiss. First, when the group arrives, there is no one there to greet them. Later, an unexpected maintenance technician shows up. Their boss, Sol Brewster, keeps moving them around like he is trying to hide something. Then suddenly the computer system and communication system fail - at virtually the same time - thus preventing them from investigating what is going on or seeking help from outside.

Things get more alarming when they begin to see strange ships on the horizon. Now Kerrigan and his fellow teens must uncover the secret of Solferino. They will come within inches of death trying to figure it out.

Putting up Roots may not be the most consistently exciting book that you ever read; in fact, there is a point in the middle where it gets a little slow - the proverbial calm before the storm. But, like in most good mysteries, once we - and the characters - begin to understand the facts, the book becomes a page-turner that is nearly impossible to put down. The book deals with a variety of ethical issues surrounding child labor, space exploration and inhabitation rights. A good read that seems targeted at either teen or adult (similar, in that nature, to Ender's Game), Putting Up Roots won't leave you disappointed.

Joshua's mother, a self-absorbed actress, sends him to live with his relatives at Burnt Willow Farm. Having had a good time there eight years before, Joshua is pleased -- until he gets there. He learns that his aunt has died in that time, and his uncle has remarried a sharp-tongued shrew called Stacy, who doesn't hesitate to make him feel unwelcome. She isn't much kinder to her stepdaughter Dawn, an autistic girl who says practically nothing. But Dawn hears and understands a lot more than she seems.

Stacy, in an effort to get her husband to sell the farm, sends the two kids to the untamed planet of Solferino, which has only some lower animals and a lot of plants. To make matters worse, the transport has a bunch of other rejected kids -- four sisters with gemstone names (one of whom is a druggie), and three boys who have Wagnerian names (ex-street thugs). And when the kids arrive on Solferino, Joshua begins to suspect that their bullying supervisor is hiding a dark secret about Solferino's value -- and about the presence of innocent, intelligent creatures on it.

The pacing is the main problem with "Putting Up Roots" -- it starts off rapidly, lags for a long time, then picks up in the last chapters of the book. And the ruperts aren't as big a part of the story as you'd expect. Despite this, it's a fairly good SF adventure story, with its realistic corporate battles and suitably bizarre aliens and planets.

Joshua is a pretty likable hero, especially since he tends to take a very balanced view of what's good or bad. A lot of characters in that sort of situation start whining about what they don't want to do, but Sheffield doesn't. Dawn is a fairly good supporting character, but has a tendency to fade out when she isn't being focused on. Topaz is much more vivid and present in the story. And supporting characters like Sig and Saph are similarly good -- even if you don't totally like them, Sheffield will let you see why they are what they are.

His writing is pretty descriptive, but not immensely. (I occasionally felt frustrated when told that an object was brown and "rounded," but nothing more) And he does an excellent job with the dynamics of the teens in the group -- not everybody is friendly, and not everyone trusts. If you like a little tension in your heroes rather than a big band of buddies, you'll like this.

"Putting Up Roots" isn't perfect, but a flair for characterization saves it from being totally average. Good solid read.