Tria never, ever goes Outside that s where germs are . . . and living, bacteria-breathing humans! She d much rather stay inside her pod with her best friend, a hologram named Star. But now she doesn t have a choice. Her mom has disappeared and Tria is in terrible danger and must flee their home to the security of a Back to Basics school. Before Tria tearfully turns her friend off, her mom manages to send Star a message vital information Tria can retrieve when she s safe. Except holoprojectors are strictly forbidden at her new school. No technology or modern influences are allowed! Tria has no way to contact Star or find out what her mom needed to tell her. Not to mention she has to put up with Dayla, a mean-spirited girl determined to make Tria s life even more miserable. Desperate to get hold of a holoprojector, Tria bravely takes on new challenges. But can a girl like Tria succeed in a world where danger lurks around every corner? Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

While newcomer Rector's futuristic tale of a girl who faces her fears to save the world has some creative and suspenseful moments, it leaves readers with some unanswered questions. Since her father died Outside, Tria won't leave her pod; she's terrified of germs and animals, and her only friend is a hologram named Star. But when her archeologist mother is kidnapped after finding a device that can make holograms solid, Tria's world changes dramatically. Following her mother's instructions, Tria stores Star on a disk and heads to South Back to Basics School, where she plots to find the device and save her mom: "Bad guys were chasing me, Mom was in danger, and my best friend was a disk in my shoe." (Later, she will need to rescue Star when her disk is stolen.) But to succeed, she must face an angry "furbeast" and enlist the help of two "real" classmates. Some of the details are clever and even comical; for instance, when Tria reassembles a robo horse to escape the school and find her mother, she mixes up parts from other technologies and inadvertently creates a "most marvelous" creature that flies and thinks with the sharp mind of her computerized teacher, Mr. Willoughby. But ultimately some flaws in logic may distract readers: for example, why do armed guards patrol the school, why does the school prohibit technology yet allow the use of robo horses, and how would an archeologist came upon such a sophisticated device on a dig? Ages 8-12. (Feb.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information