When you think about evolution, how long do you suppose the changes from one generation to another take? A decade, a century, a thousand years??? What if it happens in one generation maybe triggered by a higher power after a bionuclear war to keep mankind at the top of the evolutionary ladder.
Super strong, smart, desease free, long lived, even though very few in number, these children are born before the devastation unleashed around the world in a moment of madness by the Super Powers of the world. Most of us grew up with the threat of nuclear war and World War III. Remember the drills at school when the bell rang loudly, we jumped up and dove under our desks wrapping our hands around our head. We huddled there waiting for the all clear signal. Seems really silly now but at that time we felt the adults knew best and would save our lives.
The America in this book starts with the same fear of nuclear war coupled with a biological threat. How to survive? They can't. A few adults have the forsight to prepare for the worst. Life goes on for the human race because of an evolutionary anomaly which gives the next generation the gifts, skills, and physical advantages to continue a fragile existence. A gifted girl finds herself trapped in an underground shelter built by her foster father in case a bionuclear war happens.
With her is her stepbrother, a macaw, by the name of Terry. Great character. Candy is one of the new humans with the superior brain, brawn, an instincts to survive and eventually find the other special people born with the ability to survive and thrive in a changed environment. She must travel the length and breath of the United States in search of others to build a new civilization. She is only 12 years old. What a challenge for a child. She eventually does find others of similar genetic traits. She meets a very young man whose life she saves from a devastating car accident.
I enjoyed the thread of the story envolving the growing friendship/courtship of the two main characaters. Remember, she is twelve, he is about thirteen. Standing in the way of success are other people with the potential to survive but with twisted mental aberations. If they succeed in eliminating the super children of the new world, the human race will be set on another self-destructive path.
I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading some of the other books written by this author.