In this gripping novel, Blakemore (The Friendship Riddle) creates a disturbingly ordered world in which questions about friendship and family offer courageous and heartwarming testaments to the human spirit.

Publishers Weekly

This creepy, memorable novel is a welcome addition to the relative few utopian/ dystopian books for pre-YA readers . . . An ending that will have readers eagerly anticipating the next installment.

BCCB

The themes are strong, and the depiction of a tightly controlled world at the expense of individuality will surely fascinate fans of Lois Lowry's The Giver . . . A very good selection for middle grade readers drawn to high-concept science fiction.

School Library Journal

Will have children turning pages and thinking about important questions. An excellent choice for those who love Lois Lowry's The Giver or Margaret Peterson Haddix's sci-fi adventures.

Booklist

Less stark than The Giver, this welcome addition to the dystopic utopia genre is a young cousin of Ally Condie's Matched and Mary Pearson's The Adoration of Jenna Fox.

Kirkus

Science, history and literature references glow . . . With keen intelligence and bits of humor, the prose slips calmly between narrative perspectives, trusting readers to pick up a revelation that Ephraim and Mallory don't see--and it's a doozy. This one is special.

starred review, Kirkus Reviews on THE WATER CASTLE