YA Book Review: Streams of Babel
I picked up Carol Plum-Ucci’s Streams of Babel hoping to find something as gripping as The Night My Sister Went Missing, albeit on a larger scale. What I found was something rather different, but just as interesting.
Streams of Babel is about bioterrorism. A group of terrorists target a city through their drinking water, a slow-acting plan that will leave their victims confused as to its source. The book centers around four teens-Cora, Owen, Sam, and Rain-who are infected, as well as Shahzad, a Pakistani boy working for the Americans by tricking the terrorists’ online sessions. Later, another computer genius, Tyler, is introduced, who provides a somewhat amoral counterbalance to Shahzad.
I expected to get to know the characters intricacies quickly, and with great detail, since this seems to be one of Plum-Ucci’s strengths. I did, in the case of Cora, Sam, and Shahzad, become very familiar with their lives and why they acted as they did. With the other characters, however, there seemed to be only a semblance of depth. This was slightly confusing, especially on the part of Owen, since he seemed like a very intellectual, quiet thinker, I was just never sure why.
The story is told through alternating voices, which always has the possibility of becoming confusing. Not so with this book. Alternating voices worked wonderfully to tie together each character’s individual story. Even the late introduction of Tyler was not confusing. It was very easy to flow from one storyteller to the next to see the full picture of the event.
Though it focuses on individuals, this book was more about how the events influenced the character’s actions than how the characters influenced events. It is riveting, moved ahead by the question of whether any of the characters will survive. Even Shahzad and Tyler, relatively safe in their web of American bureaucracy, strike out on their own when the agents stop listening to them. The plot is suitable-revolving around the teens’ increasing symptoms and the efforts of various people to determine what is causing them. I did manage to predict one plot twist, but that did not lessen my enjoyment of seeing the events played out.
Overall, I very much enjoyed the book. It shows the larger struggle of terrorism and how best to fight it, as well as focusing on the people involved-on both sides. It points out stereotypes held about Americans and by Americans. It challenges the reader to ask him or herself hard questions about what makes the United States great-or not so great.
Streams of Babel is about bioterrorism. A group of terrorists target a city through their drinking water, a slow-acting plan that will leave their victims confused as to its source. The book centers around four teens-Cora, Owen, Sam, and Rain-who are infected, as well as Shahzad, a Pakistani boy working for the Americans by tricking the terrorists’ online sessions. Later, another computer genius, Tyler, is introduced, who provides a somewhat amoral counterbalance to Shahzad.
I expected to get to know the characters intricacies quickly, and with great detail, since this seems to be one of Plum-Ucci’s strengths. I did, in the case of Cora, Sam, and Shahzad, become very familiar with their lives and why they acted as they did. With the other characters, however, there seemed to be only a semblance of depth. This was slightly confusing, especially on the part of Owen, since he seemed like a very intellectual, quiet thinker, I was just never sure why.
The story is told through alternating voices, which always has the possibility of becoming confusing. Not so with this book. Alternating voices worked wonderfully to tie together each character’s individual story. Even the late introduction of Tyler was not confusing. It was very easy to flow from one storyteller to the next to see the full picture of the event.
Though it focuses on individuals, this book was more about how the events influenced the character’s actions than how the characters influenced events. It is riveting, moved ahead by the question of whether any of the characters will survive. Even Shahzad and Tyler, relatively safe in their web of American bureaucracy, strike out on their own when the agents stop listening to them. The plot is suitable-revolving around the teens’ increasing symptoms and the efforts of various people to determine what is causing them. I did manage to predict one plot twist, but that did not lessen my enjoyment of seeing the events played out.
Overall, I very much enjoyed the book. It shows the larger struggle of terrorism and how best to fight it, as well as focusing on the people involved-on both sides. It points out stereotypes held about Americans and by Americans. It challenges the reader to ask him or herself hard questions about what makes the United States great-or not so great.