Following the turbulent events of the Warcross Championships in 2017’s WARCROSS, Emika Chen returns to put a stop to Hideo Tanaka’s schemes. Nancy Wu also returns to narrate the final installment in the duology. Her performance perfectly sets the tone for the story, giving it a sense of urgency that matches the high stakes of the battle Emika and her team take on. But while Wu delivers the narrative well and captures the character of Emika Chen, other characters, especially males, aren’t given as much presence. Also, multiple accents sometimes make it difficult to identify characters rather than clarifying them. C.J.S. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

★ 07/23/2018
Sure to inspire even deeper devotion among Lu’s fans, this sequel picks up just three days after the Warcross finale, raising complicated questions about the consequences of technology and power. Emika Chen, exempt from Hideo Tanaka’s unleashed algorithm thanks to a lucky accident, is reeling from Hideo’s betrayal and the knowledge that Zero, the hacker whom Hideo hired her to neutralize, is Hideo’s long-missing brother, Sasuke, whose disappearance drives Hideo to create Warcross and the algorithm. Having realized that the algorithm, meant to eliminate violence, may be causing people to commit suicide, Emika enters a tenuous partnership with Zero and the Blackcoats, a secret organization working to destroy the algorithm, and attempts to gain access to it by winning Hideo’s trust. Though Emika maintains her moral center, she struggles to do right as the virtual world crosses into reality and becomes personal: “There’s a point where the lines start to blur, and I am standing in that place now, struggling to see through the gray.” Lu’s futuristic world, with its immersive technology, feels dangerously within reach in this action-packed escapade with a thoughtful, emotion-driven core. Ages 12–up. (Sept.)

Praise for Wildcard:
An Instant New York Times & USA Today Bestseller!
Fall 2018 Kids’ Indie Next List – Teen Pick
A Publishers Weekly Most Anticipated YA Book - Fall 2018
An Amazon Best Young Adult Book of the Month Pick – September 2018
An Amazon Editors' Favorite Young Adult Book of Fall 2018
A Seventeen Magazine Best YA Book of 2018
A Kirkus Reviews Best YA Book of 2018
A BuzzFeed Best YA Book of 2018

★ "Lu’s futuristic world, with its immersive technology, feels dangerously within reach in this action-packed escapade with a thoughtful, emotion-driven core."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "The plotting is exquisite, with tiny details connecting back to the first book, big twists that never feel forced, and emotional power drawn from character growth. The flawlessly rendered characters anchor the sophisticated themes and world-altering stakes right up to the end game. A fast, intense, phenomenal read."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"There’s plenty of high-stakes double-crossing here, and this finale moves along at a breakneck clip. Series fans will be only too happy to zoom along for the ride."—Booklist

"Fans of Warcross will enjoy even more time spent in the game, along with intrigue, action, and mystery."—School Library Journal

Praise for Warcross:
A New York Times Bestseller
An Amazon Editor's Favorite YA Book for Fall 2017 
An Amazon Best Young Adult Book of the Month Pick — September 2017
An Amazon Best YA Book of 2017
A Kirkus Best Teen Book of 2017
A Publishers Weekly Best YA Book of 2017
A Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2017
A Boston Globe Best YA Book of 2017
A POPSUGAR Best YA Book of 2017
A Paste Magazine Best YA Book of 2017
A Bustle Best YA Book of 2017
A 2018 YALSA Teens’ Top Ten Pick

“A vibrant, action-packed shot of adrenaline. Lu delivers characters with heart and determination, then sets them loose in a luminously conceived world of infinite possibility.”—Leigh Bardugo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Six of Crows

★ “With a keen eye for detail, Lu (the Young Elites series) vividly imagines a future society where gaming is woven into daily life . . . Think The Hunger Games meets World of Warcraft.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Marie Lu’s Warcross is unlike anything I’ve ever read—clever, smart, romantic—yet exploding with color, action, and unrelenting speed. I flew through this book—it’s absolutely fantastic.”—Sabaa Tahir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Ember in the Ashes

★ “A stellar cyberpunk series opener packed with simmering romance and cinematic thrills.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review 

“Clear your schedule, because you won’t stop reading Warcross until you’re done. Addictive, fast-paced, and totally immersive, this book takes you from a futuristic Tokyo on a high-tech tour of incredible virtual worlds. Packed with danger, intrigue, and heart-pounding gameplay, set in a world built with an incredible eye for detail, Warcross is Marie Lu’s best book yet.”—Amie Kaufman, New York Times bestselling author of Illuminae

★ “A highly engaging and incredibly exciting science fiction novel for young adults.”—School Library Journal, starred review
  
“An immersive world that I didn't want to leave. Warcross is pure genius. I'm ready for the sequel!”—Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures and author of The Lovely Reckless

“[A]s brightly hued as Emika’s sleeve tattoo and rainbow hair — a fast-paced, fun-filled adventure.”—The Washington Post 

“The novel is a page-turner, and even those who are not gamers will cheer for Emi as she tries to discover who is genuine and who is not.”—VOYA 

“The Hunger Games meets Minecraft as a teen hacker enters a virtual reality in Marie Lu’s electrifying novel Warcross.”—Seventeen 

“[A]n inventive first in a series that showcases Lu’s versatility as a storyteller. . . . Dystopia, dark fantasy, and now a sci-fi thriller—what can’t Lu do? Her boatloads of fans can’t wait to find out.”—Booklist

“[A]s visual, kinetic, and furiously paced as any video game. . . . It’s ‘Gleaming the Cube’ meets ‘Strange Days’ meets ‘Blade Runner,’ and it’s a lot of fun.”—The New York Times 

"Warcross is the kind of all-consuming fantasy novel that pulls you head-first into a brand new world that begins to feel so familiar you can’t wait to get your hands on the next one."—New York magazine

09/01/2018
Gr 8 Up–Emika Chen has been betrayed by Hideo, the man she cared most about and tried to help. Blinded by his all-consuming need to find his long-lost brother, he now controls most of the world through an algorithm in the lenses that everyone uses to connect to the NeuroLink, the system by which they access the virtual world. Only a very few people, like Emika and her old teammates on the Phoenix Riders Warcross team, are still using beta lenses that allow them to circumvent the algorithm. This is encouraging crime bosses and criminals to turn themselves in, but others, maybe even innocent people, are committing suicide. Emika, convinced that she alone must stop the algorithm, agrees to work with mysterious hacker Zero and his Blackcoats to undermine Hideo. But there's a thin line between right and wrong, and she's not sure whom she can trust, other than her old teammates. Fans of Warcross will enjoy even more time spent in the game, along with intrigue, action, and mystery. Emika owns her flaws and still tries to do the right thing, even when she's unsure what that is. While the character development of some of her teammates feel a little flat, Emika, Hideo, and Zero shine through. VERDICT A necessary purchase for libraries that have Warcross; those where science fiction circulates well, should pick up both volumes in this duology.—Kelly Jo Lasher, Middle Township High School, Cape May Court House, NJ

Following the turbulent events of the Warcross Championships in 2017’s WARCROSS, Emika Chen returns to put a stop to Hideo Tanaka’s schemes. Nancy Wu also returns to narrate the final installment in the duology. Her performance perfectly sets the tone for the story, giving it a sense of urgency that matches the high stakes of the battle Emika and her team take on. But while Wu delivers the narrative well and captures the character of Emika Chen, other characters, especially males, aren’t given as much presence. Also, multiple accents sometimes make it difficult to identify characters rather than clarifying them. C.J.S. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine