Dove Arising by Karen Bao

• 2019 Maud Hart Lovelace List
• Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopian
• Grade:  7th & Up
• Reading Level: 6.1 (13 points)
• Length: 336 pages
• Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (February 24, 2015)
• My Rating: 2.5 out of 4
• Readability: Felt long, made me sleepy, lots of science background 
• Division 2
• Summary:  Introvert Phaet Theta, is a model citizen whose faith, and beliefs are tested when she is forced to confront disturbing truths about her society and its government in order to save her family. Book #1

This story is set on the moon in the future.  The people who live there have escaped the earth and have colonized on the moon. They have also made their own governing system which turns out to be very restrictive with little freedom. 15 year old Phaet ends up joining the militia so she can free her mother from a life long prison sentence or death and becomes a star student who uses her intelligence and strength to help her family. 

This book is written by a very gifted teenager who knows a lot about science.  Really amazing that this is her first book. However, it was hard for me to stay awake!  There are a lot of fighting scenes and maybe that is what caused me keep dozing off. When I watch a movie with lots of action and little dialogue I also fall asleep. So, this book went on forever for me.  I did love the whole premise of the story and wanted to really love the book but I found that I just wanted to finish and it was taking forever.   

There is a little bit of a love story and a lot of fighting and action. They swear using made up words from their moon colony.  The author is driving home the point that a government that permits free speech and print is one that can be very dangerous. 

I gave it a 2.5 because I was impressed with this author's first novel, but it was a disappointing read for me..