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This Time of Darkness
Eleven-year-old Amy lives in a decaying underground city. Ignored by her mother and under surveillance by authorities because she can read , Amy reluctantly finds herself befriending Axel-a strange boy who claims to have come from a mythical place called ... Outside . Is Axel crazy? Amy knows there is no such place as Outside.
But what if there were? What would it be like?
Curious, Amy convinces Axel to escape. What she hopes to find is something Axel remembers called freedom . But what she discovers is beyond her wildest dreams.
But what if there were? What would it be like?
Curious, Amy convinces Axel to escape. What she hopes to find is something Axel remembers called freedom . But what she discovers is beyond her wildest dreams.
176 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
14 people are currently reading
1014 people want to read
About the author
Helen Mary Hoover
19 books55 followershttp://www.orrt.org/hoover/
Over the course of her twenty-three-year career as a writer, H.M. Hoover won eight awards for her writing, including three Best Book for Young Adult designations from the American Library Association and two Parent's Choice Honor Awards. Another Heaven, Another Earth received the Ohioana Award in 1982.
H.M. Hoover lived in Burke, Virginia. Her last published work was The Whole Truth - And Other Myths: Retelling Ancient Tales, in 1996.
Hoover changed her pen name to H.M. Hoover before Children came out because there was already a children's author named Helen Hoover.
Over the course of her twenty-three-year career as a writer, H.M. Hoover won eight awards for her writing, including three Best Book for Young Adult designations from the American Library Association and two Parent's Choice Honor Awards. Another Heaven, Another Earth received the Ohioana Award in 1982.
H.M. Hoover lived in Burke, Virginia. Her last published work was The Whole Truth - And Other Myths: Retelling Ancient Tales, in 1996.
Hoover changed her pen name to H.M. Hoover before Children came out because there was already a children's author named Helen Hoover.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
February 9, 2014
I loved this book enough in grade school to write to the author....and she wrote back!!! And sent me a small teddy bear to boot. I can't express how excited my inner child still is!
May 3, 2018
This is one of my all time favorite books. I probably read it at least once a year.
This is set in the future, where EVERYONE lives in the City. "The City is old" is something that is said often.
I loved it cause it was dirty and gritty, and people were weird and creepy. It was like Logan's Run and The Giver had a dirty, more realistic baby. Pseudo-Utopia isn't always so sparkling clean. Sometimes it's covered in filth and roaches. I mean, what else would you expect if you took all of civilization and shoved it into one contained area?
The story follows Amy, an exceptionally smart girl who is somewhat of an outcast because of a certain talent - she can read. Reading isn't illegal, but it is frowned upon. Amy hates her life, her "mother" (the woman who gave birth to her, but little more than that), and school. She meets Axel, a "new" kid in class - a "crazy", who claims to have come from "somewhere else". Not another level or floor or sector, but ELSEWHERE, as in OUTSIDE. Crazy talk.
But Amy decides she wants to investigate for herself, and soon enough, she and Axel find themselves walking the halls, climbing he ramps, and searching higher, following rumors, trying to get outside.
This is a children's book, probably a third grade reading level, if that. But with heavy themes. And it's sooooooo good. It covers some deep stuff - humanity and civilization and how we're all three meals away from insanity at any point in time, basically. There is one line that Amy says, I think maybe twice, and it's simple, but it sticks with me a lot.
"People don't like it when you mess with their things."
Sounds simple enough. But in the City, people basically hate each other and jealously guard any and all possessions, for good reason. The quickest way to earn someone's wrath is to try to touch them or take something from them.
I think this totally applies to today, too. It sounds like such a simple thing, but really, the quickest and easiest way to piss someone off? Touch their cell phone. Poke at their purse or back pack. Brush up against their car. Not cool.
I don't know why, it sticks with me.
I also associated a lot with Amy. She is not a typical little girl. She is not wishy washy or day dreamy or silly. She is very serious and clinical and almost a little cold. I think I tend to be the same, so enjoyed seeing that in a female character.
Anywhoo, I could ramble on and on and continue not making sense, or you could just go ahead and read this book. Which you should. It rocks.
My only complaint is that it didn't go on - I wanted more. Every time I read it, it's like I expect another chapter or two to magically appear in the back.
This is set in the future, where EVERYONE lives in the City. "The City is old" is something that is said often.
I loved it cause it was dirty and gritty, and people were weird and creepy. It was like Logan's Run and The Giver had a dirty, more realistic baby. Pseudo-Utopia isn't always so sparkling clean. Sometimes it's covered in filth and roaches. I mean, what else would you expect if you took all of civilization and shoved it into one contained area?
The story follows Amy, an exceptionally smart girl who is somewhat of an outcast because of a certain talent - she can read. Reading isn't illegal, but it is frowned upon. Amy hates her life, her "mother" (the woman who gave birth to her, but little more than that), and school. She meets Axel, a "new" kid in class - a "crazy", who claims to have come from "somewhere else". Not another level or floor or sector, but ELSEWHERE, as in OUTSIDE. Crazy talk.
But Amy decides she wants to investigate for herself, and soon enough, she and Axel find themselves walking the halls, climbing he ramps, and searching higher, following rumors, trying to get outside.
This is a children's book, probably a third grade reading level, if that. But with heavy themes. And it's sooooooo good. It covers some deep stuff - humanity and civilization and how we're all three meals away from insanity at any point in time, basically. There is one line that Amy says, I think maybe twice, and it's simple, but it sticks with me a lot.
"People don't like it when you mess with their things."
Sounds simple enough. But in the City, people basically hate each other and jealously guard any and all possessions, for good reason. The quickest way to earn someone's wrath is to try to touch them or take something from them.
I think this totally applies to today, too. It sounds like such a simple thing, but really, the quickest and easiest way to piss someone off? Touch their cell phone. Poke at their purse or back pack. Brush up against their car. Not cool.
I don't know why, it sticks with me.
I also associated a lot with Amy. She is not a typical little girl. She is not wishy washy or day dreamy or silly. She is very serious and clinical and almost a little cold. I think I tend to be the same, so enjoyed seeing that in a female character.
Anywhoo, I could ramble on and on and continue not making sense, or you could just go ahead and read this book. Which you should. It rocks.
My only complaint is that it didn't go on - I wanted more. Every time I read it, it's like I expect another chapter or two to magically appear in the back.
July 25, 2012
This book introduced me to arcologies and dystopias back when I was too young to have heard either word, and long, long before dystopias became a Thing in YA fiction. It changed my internal landscape forever.
The story is good--about 3.5 stars' worth on plot alone--and it holds up to the test of time. But the world...? Splendid. Using characters' own observations and vivid memories, Hoover paints a picture of a cramped, stifling, stinking city where children are taught by computer in classrooms that hold a thousand students, where 15-year-olds get pregnant to earn an "apartment"--a 15-by-15 room--of their own, where the few open spaces have steadily been filled in to house the relentlessly growing population, where there are no jobs but factory labor, and where no one learns to read. The 11-year-old heroine, Amy, is already under pressure from her mother to move out to the dormitories so her mother can have more space and privacy. As a kid in the 80's, I'd never seen anything like it. As an adult, I still love going back to immerse myself in the world.
The story is good--about 3.5 stars' worth on plot alone--and it holds up to the test of time. But the world...? Splendid. Using characters' own observations and vivid memories, Hoover paints a picture of a cramped, stifling, stinking city where children are taught by computer in classrooms that hold a thousand students, where 15-year-olds get pregnant to earn an "apartment"--a 15-by-15 room--of their own, where the few open spaces have steadily been filled in to house the relentlessly growing population, where there are no jobs but factory labor, and where no one learns to read. The 11-year-old heroine, Amy, is already under pressure from her mother to move out to the dormitories so her mother can have more space and privacy. As a kid in the 80's, I'd never seen anything like it. As an adult, I still love going back to immerse myself in the world.
October 19, 2017
Some books stay with you in your mind, even years later. Some books even help shape who you are. When I was about 10 or 11 I read “This Time of Darkness” by HM Hoover. After the “Hunger Games” the plotline sounds cliché, a dystopian setting after the fall of civilisation, a young girl defying the system – of course it was published in 1980 so it beat the Hunger Games to it just a little.
I just re-read the book, I was all prepared to enjoy it purely as nostalgia – but by Jove! (I'm refusing to use “OMG” ) it was a smegging good read. The adventure side was just as good as I remembered, but I understood so many more references which made it seriously, seriously DARK in places. As a child I guess I had a much more innocent interpretation of some of the events. This makes the Hunger Games look positively utopian.
The moral side is darn good without being preachy. The main character, Amy, is pretty streetwise and a bit cynical after growing up in a hell hole, but there is a moment where it hits her, as she stares at the corpse of a man who was probably intending to kill her, somewhere someone will be waiting for him to come home, someone will cry when he doesn't... even killers have mothers.
I remember that scene, it stuck with me and probably ruined my enjoyment of mindless violence from then on.
If you would like to read this book (only 161 pages) The book is hard to find, tragically it is very little known, but I recommend it for everyone from about ages 8 to 800.
I just re-read the book, I was all prepared to enjoy it purely as nostalgia – but by Jove! (I'm refusing to use “OMG” ) it was a smegging good read. The adventure side was just as good as I remembered, but I understood so many more references which made it seriously, seriously DARK in places. As a child I guess I had a much more innocent interpretation of some of the events. This makes the Hunger Games look positively utopian.
The moral side is darn good without being preachy. The main character, Amy, is pretty streetwise and a bit cynical after growing up in a hell hole, but there is a moment where it hits her, as she stares at the corpse of a man who was probably intending to kill her, somewhere someone will be waiting for him to come home, someone will cry when he doesn't... even killers have mothers.
I remember that scene, it stuck with me and probably ruined my enjoyment of mindless violence from then on.
If you would like to read this book (only 161 pages) The book is hard to find, tragically it is very little known, but I recommend it for everyone from about ages 8 to 800.
May 17, 2014
Let me give you some background on this book. Back when i was in 5th grade my teacher, Mrs. Kofford read this book to us after lunch each day. I remember loving it, I remember laying my head on my desk, closing my eyes and just loosing myself in the story. She never read long enough for me. Anyway, I actually ran into her this summer and asked her what book that was. She didn't remember the title off the top of her head, but she was kind enough to call me once she got to school.
I have re-read this adventure and enjoyed it all over again. Basically it is about an underground society and two of the teens do there best to escape. Very intriguing back in elementary and even now. I suggesting reading this along with your young reader. It would be sure to strike up some great conversation with your young one.
I have re-read this adventure and enjoyed it all over again. Basically it is about an underground society and two of the teens do there best to escape. Very intriguing back in elementary and even now. I suggesting reading this along with your young reader. It would be sure to strike up some great conversation with your young one.
May 28, 2011
This book launched my love of all things dystopian. I feel like I owe a lot of my geekery to Helen Mary Hoover. I even took the time to track this one down with my grade school librarian years later so I could own it.
The plot is a familiar one, about some kids who live in a regimented, caste-based society. I remember that what really got me was that they weren't allowed to read books. It was like a nightmare to me.
Thanks, Ms. Hoover, you totally helped me on my path to book nerddom.
The plot is a familiar one, about some kids who live in a regimented, caste-based society. I remember that what really got me was that they weren't allowed to read books. It was like a nightmare to me.
Thanks, Ms. Hoover, you totally helped me on my path to book nerddom.
Read
March 27, 2017I was poking around old children's literature for my niece a couple of months ago when I remembered this book. I must have read it sometime in elementary, and it made a strong impression on me. I googled something like "underground city children's book" and boom - there it was. Out of print, so I ordered an old library hardcover copy off of Amazon.
This Time Of Darkness is about a young girl named Amy who lives in an enormous city of the far future, who has never seen the outside world. She has learned about it by teaching herself to read. One day, a boy named Axel reveals to her that not only has he seen the outside, but that he is from there. And so they decide to escape.
This book absolutely lived up to my fond memories. It seems like that's almost never the case when I revisit a sci-fi book. After many years of accumulated wisdom (*cough*), the characters in the old sci fi books I've gone back and read seem like lifeless caricatures in living worlds. I didn't feel that was the case here. It's still children's lit, obviously, but Amy and Axel's interactions and contrasts drive a lot of the story, and while they were certainly plugins to particular places in this world that needed to be inhabited, their feelings and reactions to the world around them made that world more real and charged with life and action.
Which isn't to say that it was a character driven book. It's only 160 pages or so, but it's a sci fi adventure, mostly about the exploration of the world of the book. My memories all came from the first section, and it was as vivid as I recall. The underground is crushingly crowded, unspeakably dirty, nasty, unfriendly, and repressive. Even now, imagining children wandering loose through those corridors, filled with insane bums who sleep naked on top of their dirty clothes, where rats steal food out of your backpack, where you pretend to be sick in the public bathrooms to stay safe, where smart children are shown the same lessons over and over to numb them into being "normal" - no doubt my imagination is not what it once was, but it paints a pretty picture, doesn't it? The rest of the book finishes out the world that these underground cities sit in admirably, but nothing really compares to those early sections.
Anyway, it's still a children's book. But it is an unsparingly dystopic children's book about a future world in decline! How awesome is that? I guess they liked to give kids that kind of thing in the early 80s. Good on 'em.
This Time Of Darkness is about a young girl named Amy who lives in an enormous city of the far future, who has never seen the outside world. She has learned about it by teaching herself to read. One day, a boy named Axel reveals to her that not only has he seen the outside, but that he is from there. And so they decide to escape.
This book absolutely lived up to my fond memories. It seems like that's almost never the case when I revisit a sci-fi book. After many years of accumulated wisdom (*cough*), the characters in the old sci fi books I've gone back and read seem like lifeless caricatures in living worlds. I didn't feel that was the case here. It's still children's lit, obviously, but Amy and Axel's interactions and contrasts drive a lot of the story, and while they were certainly plugins to particular places in this world that needed to be inhabited, their feelings and reactions to the world around them made that world more real and charged with life and action.
Which isn't to say that it was a character driven book. It's only 160 pages or so, but it's a sci fi adventure, mostly about the exploration of the world of the book. My memories all came from the first section, and it was as vivid as I recall. The underground is crushingly crowded, unspeakably dirty, nasty, unfriendly, and repressive. Even now, imagining children wandering loose through those corridors, filled with insane bums who sleep naked on top of their dirty clothes, where rats steal food out of your backpack, where you pretend to be sick in the public bathrooms to stay safe, where smart children are shown the same lessons over and over to numb them into being "normal" - no doubt my imagination is not what it once was, but it paints a pretty picture, doesn't it? The rest of the book finishes out the world that these underground cities sit in admirably, but nothing really compares to those early sections.
Anyway, it's still a children's book. But it is an unsparingly dystopic children's book about a future world in decline! How awesome is that? I guess they liked to give kids that kind of thing in the early 80s. Good on 'em.
October 25, 2019
Marvelous SF dystopia for tweens. Some ideas similar to other dystopias, especially Brave New World, but not quite so awful, of course. A premise that may have inspired The City of Ember (or maybe didn't, as underground ghettos and dreams of escape therefrom aren't rare in lit.). A lot of excitement, and a hopeful ending. I wish this author had gotten the recognition she deserves.
I love the little details. At one point the boy walks backward. The girl tries, fails. He says 'practice where there are no people around.' She can't imagine such a place existing.
I love the bits of provocative philosophy. A man scolded them, but didn't stop them. "Maybe it's not that he's any nicer, just that he lives an easier life," Amy speculated. (Bonus points for interesting vocabulary words... another example of how Hoover does not talk down to her readers.)
"She mulled it over and wondered if plants, like people, were called good and bad and what plants did that qualified them for those labels."
I love the little details. At one point the boy walks backward. The girl tries, fails. He says 'practice where there are no people around.' She can't imagine such a place existing.
I love the bits of provocative philosophy. A man scolded them, but didn't stop them. "Maybe it's not that he's any nicer, just that he lives an easier life," Amy speculated. (Bonus points for interesting vocabulary words... another example of how Hoover does not talk down to her readers.)
"She mulled it over and wondered if plants, like people, were called good and bad and what plants did that qualified them for those labels."
Read
March 5, 2013LOVED this in elementary school. Been trying to figure out what the title was for ages and finally found it!
December 26, 2013
I frequent sites and groups where people ask for help in identifying forgotten book titles from pieces of plots they remember. When someone's memory is "A kid lives in an underground world and escapes to the surface for the first time," there are a few things it could be. Journey Outside by Mary Q. Steele comes up a lot. Zilpha Keatley Snyder's And All Between also fits. And then there's This Time of Darkness. The cover is kinda cheesy, but the story is a very surprisingly mature, dark, and complex variation on this fairly common theme.
11-year old Amy lives in a dirty, miserable, cramped city. She shares a 15'x15', 6' tall apartment with her mom, who was paid by the authorities to give birth to her. Normally, at age 10 she would be moved into a dormitory and taught a trade, but they don't want her. Why? Amy was taught how to read by her mom's roommate when she was younger. While not illegal, this is frowned upon, and they don't want her infecting other children. So she stays in these cramped, smelly, roach-infested quarters with her resentful mom.
Then Amy meets Axel, a boy who sits in front of her in what passes for a classroom in this city. Axel is different. Instead of paying attention to the computer lessons they have to watch, Axel hug his legs and hums to himself, miserable. He doesn't seem to understand life in the city. In fact, he claims that he came from "outside," a place that Amy has been taught does not exist. Axel says he lived with his family outside, and was playing with his friends when he fell into kind of a mine car that transports vegetables into the underground city. No one has ever believed him, and he has been forced to stay in this awful place ever since.
Amy believes him, kind of. At least this kid is also interested in escaping from their life. Amy has nothing to lose. So they make a break for it together, trying to find the level of the city that will take them to the surface. But do they go up, or down? How will they find food? Will Axel make it back home?
Unlike many children's books, these kids experience actual danger and pain and there are times when you really aren't sure that they are going to be OK. Their world is fully realized and scary. I raced through this book in an evening and will probably buy it so I can reread it. I wish I had this as a kid. It was very dark, and very, very good.
11-year old Amy lives in a dirty, miserable, cramped city. She shares a 15'x15', 6' tall apartment with her mom, who was paid by the authorities to give birth to her. Normally, at age 10 she would be moved into a dormitory and taught a trade, but they don't want her. Why? Amy was taught how to read by her mom's roommate when she was younger. While not illegal, this is frowned upon, and they don't want her infecting other children. So she stays in these cramped, smelly, roach-infested quarters with her resentful mom.
Then Amy meets Axel, a boy who sits in front of her in what passes for a classroom in this city. Axel is different. Instead of paying attention to the computer lessons they have to watch, Axel hug his legs and hums to himself, miserable. He doesn't seem to understand life in the city. In fact, he claims that he came from "outside," a place that Amy has been taught does not exist. Axel says he lived with his family outside, and was playing with his friends when he fell into kind of a mine car that transports vegetables into the underground city. No one has ever believed him, and he has been forced to stay in this awful place ever since.
Amy believes him, kind of. At least this kid is also interested in escaping from their life. Amy has nothing to lose. So they make a break for it together, trying to find the level of the city that will take them to the surface. But do they go up, or down? How will they find food? Will Axel make it back home?
Unlike many children's books, these kids experience actual danger and pain and there are times when you really aren't sure that they are going to be OK. Their world is fully realized and scary. I raced through this book in an evening and will probably buy it so I can reread it. I wish I had this as a kid. It was very dark, and very, very good.
January 20, 2019
Wow, that was intense.
A 1980 middle grade dystopic novel, very intense. But here on goodreads are people who read it in middle grade, and they seem totally fine, so I suppose it's age appropriate. And it's not one bit dated. If anything, it's more relevant than ever. You'll recognize the constant Watching if you carry a cell phone or are on Facebook or have Alexa recording your every utterance at home.
To me, on yet another day when I feel I am living in a dystopia, having witnessed soulless authoritarian horrors in my own country, it was pretty upsetting. I could see this might be our future. We certainly have all the worst that is in here in our hearts.
A very good book. Don't let my despairing mood make you think anything else.
A 1980 middle grade dystopic novel, very intense. But here on goodreads are people who read it in middle grade, and they seem totally fine, so I suppose it's age appropriate. And it's not one bit dated. If anything, it's more relevant than ever. You'll recognize the constant Watching if you carry a cell phone or are on Facebook or have Alexa recording your every utterance at home.
To me, on yet another day when I feel I am living in a dystopia, having witnessed soulless authoritarian horrors in my own country, it was pretty upsetting. I could see this might be our future. We certainly have all the worst that is in here in our hearts.
A very good book. Don't let my despairing mood make you think anything else.
July 6, 2019
Read this as an elementary student in the 80s, and it was the first dystopian style book I had read and I had found it exciting and creepy. It's popped back in my mind every so often since then, and I finally decided to try find it again all these years later (the only specifics I could remember was a boy and girl in an underground city trying to ascend to the surface.) Luckily it was popular enough that other's had posted questions looking for it as well.
The beginning of the book felt very familiar, but apparently the years have wiped away my memory of the second half of the book completely and nothing was familiar. It was still a good book and fun to read again, but it certainly had more of an impact on me as a child.
The beginning of the book felt very familiar, but apparently the years have wiped away my memory of the second half of the book completely and nothing was familiar. It was still a good book and fun to read again, but it certainly had more of an impact on me as a child.
July 30, 2018
I do like H. M. Hoover's books, and when a friend had this one to show off, I asked if I could borrow it. It's a good story - if a bit depressing one the state of human nature, though probably distrubingly accurately so. I do wish we'd learned a bit more about Michael's family set up and how, historically, we ended up with two such societies, both relatively technologically strong but ignorant of each other.
February 21, 2019
Very possibly inspired by the movie 'Logan's Run', Hoover's book has the same basic story line of a couple escaping from a domed city into the badlands of the exterior, only to discover a lost paradise that generations of their peers have left behind and forgotten about after some apocalyptic world wide event. This book is also said to be one of the pioneers of dystopian fiction when the vast majority of science fiction in those days could only imagine a bright gleaming world of space ships and robots.
Where it differs from 'Logan's Run' is that there were actually two kinds of cities in this future. The deeper underground levels house the poorest in the worst living conditions, dirty, cramped, dark and under constant surveillance. The more well to do and presumably ruling class lived top side under glass domes in clean, spacious and bright streets and buildings. While this makes for dramatic scenery, I could not help but wonder at the possibility of it all. Where do the urban areas get the energy and resources to maintain life in those vast underground caverns? How did they maintain the very complex HVAC systems that would be essential? How could food be continuously imported from the 'outside' without raising suspicion from both city dwellers and the rural farmers supplying them? Suffice to say since this is juvenile fiction there would be less of a need to explain such technicalities. It is a story about a journey and an escape from hell to utopia, and one can just enjoy the ride without delving too deep.
Where it differs from 'Logan's Run' is that there were actually two kinds of cities in this future. The deeper underground levels house the poorest in the worst living conditions, dirty, cramped, dark and under constant surveillance. The more well to do and presumably ruling class lived top side under glass domes in clean, spacious and bright streets and buildings. While this makes for dramatic scenery, I could not help but wonder at the possibility of it all. Where do the urban areas get the energy and resources to maintain life in those vast underground caverns? How did they maintain the very complex HVAC systems that would be essential? How could food be continuously imported from the 'outside' without raising suspicion from both city dwellers and the rural farmers supplying them? Suffice to say since this is juvenile fiction there would be less of a need to explain such technicalities. It is a story about a journey and an escape from hell to utopia, and one can just enjoy the ride without delving too deep.
January 30, 2014
This was probably the first dystopic fiction I ever read, when I was about 8. I gave it 5 stars because it changed my life forever, but upon reread some parts were rough and if it was my first read, I'd not be as pleased (though the story/world are captivating). I "lost" this book for 20 some-odd years, but the "whatwasthatbook" livejournal community scrounged up the title for me last month <3 Hilarious note: the last paragraph starts out like "Amy woke up from her daydream..." Well at the beginning of the book, she's at her desk, daydreaming. I thought, on all my many childhood rereads of this, that the WHOLE BOOK ended up being a daydream. I guess it was slightly beyond me, because no. She woke up from a daydream in the present at the end of the book, not back at the beginning. But, even though it's no longer beyond my level, I guess I can see how that last paragraph was kind of ambiguous. It's so funny though, because I have thought of this book MANY times in my life, and this was a fundemental element of it for me!
July 22, 2011
One of my all-time-favorite books! This book might be the first dystopian fantasy I ever read and set the standard for all books of that genre that I've read since. I have re-read it and found it to still be captivating. I've read several books that use the same general theme, but none of them have been better than this one. Because it was the first? Because it really is better? I don't know... but it is a great story!
May 23, 2008
Maybe I'm biased because this book made an indelible impression on me in in middle school, but I just recently reread it, and in terms of writing and atmosphere it is what _The Sky Inside_ could have been, and isn't, quite.
May 30, 2016
This is a pretty simple read and in some ways not particularly visionary, but I have read it at least 3 times. The two main characters provide a good perspective on a future world completely devoid of joy, creativity, etc. If you enjoy post-apocolyptic-style stories, this is a good one.
May 13, 2009
My favourite book ever.
September 9, 2018
I enjoyed this but it could have had a few more pages describing the community.
May 4, 2023
This post-apocalyptic dystopian YA novel rivals anything those genres have produced in the last twenty years. Not bad for a novel published in 1980. Though it's technically YA, it kept me reading from start to finish.
Hitting the ground running, the novel throws us into the dimly lit, grimy subterranean metropolis that's home to millions - including our 11-year-old main character: Amy. She's different. She can read. In a city that depends on ignorance to control its populace, literacy is criminal. She tries to hide her intelligence from the Authorities and has no direction or hope for her future until she befriends a similarly aged boy named Axel. He's also different, seemingly troubled, and talks furtively of a world "outside". How does he know so much about this fantasy world? Her curiosity and despair thrust both of them into an adventure that takes them far afield into dangers neither expected.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel because I love post-apocalyptic stories, and it hits all the major themes of the genre from richly described underground cities (to escape the poisoned surface) to secretive authorities, mysteries, adventure, fleeing from known and unknown terrors, and more. I especially appreciated how the characters' actions and thoughts were logically consistent for the world she created.
The only criticism, if you want to call it that, is that the author is only interested in delving into Amy's character. We only know what the other characters are thinking by what they say or what they do. Consequently, they can seem a bit two-dimensional, but that detachment works for this book because its forced perspective heightens the mystery, terror, and hope of the main character.
If you enjoy post-apocalyptic books, you will love this novel. It's a shame so few people have heard of it. It easily deserves to be alongside other excellent novels of the genre.
5 / 5 stars
Hitting the ground running, the novel throws us into the dimly lit, grimy subterranean metropolis that's home to millions - including our 11-year-old main character: Amy. She's different. She can read. In a city that depends on ignorance to control its populace, literacy is criminal. She tries to hide her intelligence from the Authorities and has no direction or hope for her future until she befriends a similarly aged boy named Axel. He's also different, seemingly troubled, and talks furtively of a world "outside". How does he know so much about this fantasy world? Her curiosity and despair thrust both of them into an adventure that takes them far afield into dangers neither expected.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel because I love post-apocalyptic stories, and it hits all the major themes of the genre from richly described underground cities (to escape the poisoned surface) to secretive authorities, mysteries, adventure, fleeing from known and unknown terrors, and more. I especially appreciated how the characters' actions and thoughts were logically consistent for the world she created.
The only criticism, if you want to call it that, is that the author is only interested in delving into Amy's character. We only know what the other characters are thinking by what they say or what they do. Consequently, they can seem a bit two-dimensional, but that detachment works for this book because its forced perspective heightens the mystery, terror, and hope of the main character.
If you enjoy post-apocalyptic books, you will love this novel. It's a shame so few people have heard of it. It easily deserves to be alongside other excellent novels of the genre.
5 / 5 stars
May 30, 2023
I first read this as a child aged 7 or 8 and it was an instant favourite. 11 year old Amy lives in a dim, grimy, dystopian, underground warren known as The City. One thing sets her apart from the other children around her: she can read, and so she knows--although vaguely--about things others don't know about, like "rain". One day, she meets another child who claims to come from a better place--"outside"--and they set off an adventure to escape the city and find the "outside".
It's probably one of those books that reads darker to adults than to children. I did not find it especially scary as a child, just very very exciting and I enjoyed the thoughtful realism of the world and the characters' experiences. It's thought-provoking, too: it presents a genuinely grim world where ignorance has to be maintained by the authorities at all costs, and explores what it's like to know more than you're supposed to, and the emotional pain at not being believed. Heavy/deep stuff, but presented in a child-appropriate way.
Similar to the The City of Ember, but darker in setting, and with more of an emotional/thoughtful/intellectual approach. Both examine elements of government and power, but the problem in Ember is a technical mystery (although ignorance plays a part), the problem here is predominantly in the mind--knowledge, freedom of thought, and truth.
It's probably one of those books that reads darker to adults than to children. I did not find it especially scary as a child, just very very exciting and I enjoyed the thoughtful realism of the world and the characters' experiences. It's thought-provoking, too: it presents a genuinely grim world where ignorance has to be maintained by the authorities at all costs, and explores what it's like to know more than you're supposed to, and the emotional pain at not being believed. Heavy/deep stuff, but presented in a child-appropriate way.
Similar to the The City of Ember, but darker in setting, and with more of an emotional/thoughtful/intellectual approach. Both examine elements of government and power, but the problem in Ember is a technical mystery (although ignorance plays a part), the problem here is predominantly in the mind--knowledge, freedom of thought, and truth.
October 15, 2021
This Time of Darkness by H.M. Hoover
This is a book which was published in 1980 and aimed mainly at older children and young adults, at a time when Young Adult literature as a separate genre was relatively new.
Eleven-year-old Amy lives in a decaying enclosed city, the residents of which have never seen the light of day. Although we are never told when the story is set relative to our day, it will probably be assumed by the reader that events take place in the far future. Neglected by her mother and under surveillance by the authorities and their 'watchers' who suspect that she can read and therefore probably has 'abnormal' thinking patterns, Amy reluctantly finds herself drawn to Axel, a boy whose behavior is considered aberrant and who claims to have come into the city from outside.
Although both know it is forbidden, Amy and Axel secretly plan to escape from their filthy and cramped environment, and hope that by following the spiral ramp which leads ever upward to find the relative paradise of the mythical Eightieth Level, and perhaps even a way out of the city.
The author tells a suspenseful, fast-paced and compelling futuristic survival story which obliquely comments on corrupt rulerships and entrenched social structures. Excellent descriptions, meticulous attention to detail, and a perfect sense of timing make this a believable and highly readable story which, while powerfully dark in places, nevertheless ends on a positive note. Overall, is it a marvelous dystopian novel which people of all ages should be able to enjoy thoroughly.
This is a book which was published in 1980 and aimed mainly at older children and young adults, at a time when Young Adult literature as a separate genre was relatively new.
Eleven-year-old Amy lives in a decaying enclosed city, the residents of which have never seen the light of day. Although we are never told when the story is set relative to our day, it will probably be assumed by the reader that events take place in the far future. Neglected by her mother and under surveillance by the authorities and their 'watchers' who suspect that she can read and therefore probably has 'abnormal' thinking patterns, Amy reluctantly finds herself drawn to Axel, a boy whose behavior is considered aberrant and who claims to have come into the city from outside.
Although both know it is forbidden, Amy and Axel secretly plan to escape from their filthy and cramped environment, and hope that by following the spiral ramp which leads ever upward to find the relative paradise of the mythical Eightieth Level, and perhaps even a way out of the city.
The author tells a suspenseful, fast-paced and compelling futuristic survival story which obliquely comments on corrupt rulerships and entrenched social structures. Excellent descriptions, meticulous attention to detail, and a perfect sense of timing make this a believable and highly readable story which, while powerfully dark in places, nevertheless ends on a positive note. Overall, is it a marvelous dystopian novel which people of all ages should be able to enjoy thoroughly.
May 25, 2022
I enjoyed following Amy and Axel during the first half of the book, which introduced the city, the filth, the dystopian future, the scarcity, etc. and their journey to find out what exists on the higher levels.
The book is also fine for a little bit after Amy and Axel escape, and Amy is experiencing the outside for the first time.
But then the vast majority of the second half is like, we run over here, we run over there, and then we run some more, and it really lost my interest. I wanted more world building and more social commentary and less "Do you think (whatever is lurking around) sees us?"
Maybe kids like that sort of thing. I don't.
I was touched by the teddy bear bit at the end though, not gonna lie.
The book is also fine for a little bit after Amy and Axel escape, and Amy is experiencing the outside for the first time.
But then the vast majority of the second half is like, we run over here, we run over there, and then we run some more, and it really lost my interest. I wanted more world building and more social commentary and less "Do you think (whatever is lurking around) sees us?"
Maybe kids like that sort of thing. I don't.
I was touched by the teddy bear bit at the end though, not gonna lie.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2022
I read this when I was about 11 or 12 I think, and parts of the story have stuck with me ever since. Just this year I figured out the name of the book, tracked down a copy and have just finished it again for the first time in 30yrs. It was just as great as I remembered. I had forgotten the story line in the second half so that felt like reading it for the first time. It was just….. great!!
It’s a dystopian story about a young girl, Amy, and her friend Axel, who want to escape their dull and dirty lives in an underground city. They have to figure out an escape route and avoid the authorities. However, Amy has an (illegal) advantage that others in the city don’t have, she can read.
It’s a dystopian story about a young girl, Amy, and her friend Axel, who want to escape their dull and dirty lives in an underground city. They have to figure out an escape route and avoid the authorities. However, Amy has an (illegal) advantage that others in the city don’t have, she can read.
February 16, 2020
This book was actually far better than I expected - I thought it would come off to me like the Ken Catran books, which enjoyed when I was younger but upon when reading now the flaws all come into sharp focus.
But the story drew me in and addressed some pretty deep themes while keeping a kid-appropriate tone. I actually stayed up late one night engrossed in the story of the two kids' escape from the city, Amy's discovery that the world she has always lived on has been built on lies, and their struggle to survive in the harsh world outside.
But the story drew me in and addressed some pretty deep themes while keeping a kid-appropriate tone. I actually stayed up late one night engrossed in the story of the two kids' escape from the city, Amy's discovery that the world she has always lived on has been built on lies, and their struggle to survive in the harsh world outside.
May 24, 2018
Good easy read
My 4th grade teacher read this to my class over 20 years ago, I forgot most of the details, but always remembered sitting on the floor entranced with the story. It took a long time to find the book, not knowing the title or author. when I found it I had to have it right away. Reading it was like seeing an old friend. It was just as entertaining as I remembered it as a 10 year old.
My 4th grade teacher read this to my class over 20 years ago, I forgot most of the details, but always remembered sitting on the floor entranced with the story. It took a long time to find the book, not knowing the title or author. when I found it I had to have it right away. Reading it was like seeing an old friend. It was just as entertaining as I remembered it as a 10 year old.
June 27, 2021
Amazing book. Just absolutely phenomenal. I'd recommend to anyone. I read this as a kid, and it struck a chord in my soul that never left. The plot haunted me over the years, and the writing influenced my own style heavily. It's masterful in giving exactly the right amount of detail, no more, no less. I recommend reading it slowly and savoring it, as it's short and you may find it's over too soon.
October 6, 2018
Man, this book is super freaking dark for a kidslit title! Like, kids avoid public bathrooms because the random adults who hang out there will sexually assault them, parents don’t give a crap about their kids, and people are just...terrible.
If you’ve read Hugh Howey’s Wool series and would like to read a book that’s strikingly similar (but, strangely, much more grim), this is your book!
If you’ve read Hugh Howey’s Wool series and would like to read a book that’s strikingly similar (but, strangely, much more grim), this is your book!
May 26, 2020
This is probably one of my favorite books. Even though it is written for a younger audience, the story has always captured my imagination and made me want to 'see how it ends'. I have always been fascinated with end of the world story's and those set underground are appealing to me. I find this an easy read and very entertaining.
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