The Toll (The Arc of a Scythe #3)

Gr 8 Up-Three years later. Scythe Goddard has risen to High Blade of MidMerica, and is quickly gripping all of North Merica in his iron fist with his radical new laws. The Thunderhead is still silent--except to Grayson Tolliver, who has reluctantly accepted his new role as the Tonist figurehead The Toll. Scythe Faraday and his librarian companion Munira fly toward a Pacific atoll that even the Thunderhead doesn't know about. And a vault containing the frozen bodies of two missing scythes is brought up from the depths of the wreckage of Endura. In this gripping conclusion to the series, Shusterman weaves together story lines of old and new characters to create an explosive series end. The depth of this immortal future is further plumbed, immersing readers in a world full of political intrigue, religious fervor, and questions about what it is to be human. The introduction of a gender-fluid character is a welcome addition to the diversity of the cast. VERDICT Fans of the first two books will be (and have been) clamoring for this finale. Get it to them as soon as possible. Highly recommended.--Tyler Hixson, Brooklyn Public Library

When Citra and Rowan are discovered preserved in the wreckage of Endura, three years after the events of Thunderhead, they awaken to find that megalomaniacal Scythe Faraday is now Overblade of all North Merica and is consolidating power worldwide. Citra must convince the world of Faraday's villainy, while Rowan, universally despised as the destroyer of Endura, must simply survive. Meanwhile, Greyson Tolliver, the only human to whom the nearly omnipotent AI known as the Thunderhead will talk, has become the Toll, spiritual leader to the oppressed Tonist religion, as the Thunderhead secretly works to build something game-changing on the remote Marshall Atolls. Some previously central characters, particularly Rowan, take on smaller roles, while others, including Greyson and a hypercompetent, genderfluid sea captain named Jerico Soberanis, are given space to charm. The stellar conclusion to Shusterman's Arc of a Scythe trilogy is a gripping adventure that never stops building momentum as it refocuses the books on a grander scale. With a surprising amount of humor for the large body count, it elevates and deepens the series with a gently optimistic examination of the fine human line between utopia and dystopia. Ages 12-up. (Nov.)