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Floodland
Global warming has caused the sea to rise until cities are turning into islands and civilization is crumbling. Ten-year-old Zoe discovers a small rowboat and keeps it a secret until she sets out alone on the great sea to find her parents. She lands on tiny Eels Island, where she must survive in a nightmarish world run by wild children, and stand up to its boy-leader, Dooby...more
Published
March 2nd 2000
by Orion Children's Books
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I just finished the first of my five books for the Young Adult Youth Dystopian Challenge. (See my post on September 14th). Floodland by Marcus Sedgwick was recommended by Bart’s Bookshelf. While it was not as intense as most young adult dystopian novels, it was still an enjoyable read. It was easy to identify with ten-year-old Zoe’s desperation. In a not-too-distant future Zoe lives in a world where the sea is quickly encroaching on the land. Accidentally left behind by her parents Zoe is alone...more
Feb 16, 2010
Lauma
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy-science-fiction
Recommended for ages 10 to 13, this book falls into the category of "Surviving Environmental Catastrophes." Set in the near future, global warming has caused the Earth's sea levels to rise and flood the coastal nations around the world. Zoe's family is last to leave their flooded town in England, and she is sadly separated from her parents as they get on the last boats. She is fortunate to uncover a small rowboat submerged in the mud, and fixes it up so she can escape her town and find her paren...more
The story is decent at best. At first I thought it would be more creepy, more dark, something like Lord of the Flies, as a lot of readers claim in their reviews. I don't know if it's because the book was written for kids, but the story was a little flat and predictable for me.
The premise started out well: most of England is submerged under water after global warming melts the ice caps and Zoe, the young heroine, is left to fend for herself. I think the best part of the book was the beginning. S...more
The premise started out well: most of England is submerged under water after global warming melts the ice caps and Zoe, the young heroine, is left to fend for herself. I think the best part of the book was the beginning. S...more
My biggest complaint about FLOODLAND is that it is too short and as a result it suffered from not being able to give enough information to the reader to totally be at ease with what was going on. Ten-year old Zoe lives on Norwich. No, that’s not a typo – Norwich has become an island as the ice caps melted and sea levels rose inundating much of Britain and the rest of the world. Supplies were running out and six months previously when the boat came to drop off supplies for the last time Zoe’s par...more
A quick read with an environmental focus. Zoey finds herself left behind when her family tries to escape Norridge, a small island that falls deeper into the sea by the day due to the encroaching waters of the ever rising sea. Is this what our future children will face?
Taking place in the near future, Zoey has never seen a car in use and has never walked in one direction without encountering the ocean. The story follows Zoey as she tries to find her parents. Over the story she has nagging hopes a...more
Taking place in the near future, Zoey has never seen a car in use and has never walked in one direction without encountering the ocean. The story follows Zoey as she tries to find her parents. Over the story she has nagging hopes a...more
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. It was short and a fast read, but it held my attention the whole time. I was concerned for Zoe, and like her, I alternated between liking Dooby and hating him. I think in the end I wanted her to end up going with him, but I think it was for the best that Munchkin was with her.
The story itself is a frightening look at one potential future in which the polar caps melt and land is covered by water. It's amazing how quickly humans revert to savages i...more
The story itself is a frightening look at one potential future in which the polar caps melt and land is covered by water. It's amazing how quickly humans revert to savages i...more
This was compared to The Lord of the Flies, which almost scared me away. It doesn't get to that point, thankfully. Zoe, through accident, has been left alone in Norwich, which rising waters has isolated. She manages to escape, only to come to another island where civilization has fled. She's determined to get to the mainland, and to her parents.
I was worried for the first bit because much is made of Zoe's independence and self-reliance, but she does warm up to a couple of people, and I liked how...more
I was worried for the first bit because much is made of Zoe's independence and self-reliance, but she does warm up to a couple of people, and I liked how...more
This book is an insult to sci fi. It makes no sense whatsoever
1 like · like · see review
Jan 19, 2013
Shanti
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
dystopia,
owned-books
Rounding up from a 3.5
Okay I'm giving this an okay rating because I did really like it, but goodness me if this isn't the most unsatisfying book i've ever read. It could have been so, so much more and I really don't understand why it isn't? Everything is crammed into 150 pages, completely rushed through as if there's no time to tell the story. I couldn't even get into the characters because by the time I was starting to get to know them, the book was finished!
There could have been conversati...more
Okay I'm giving this an okay rating because I did really like it, but goodness me if this isn't the most unsatisfying book i've ever read. It could have been so, so much more and I really don't understand why it isn't? Everything is crammed into 150 pages, completely rushed through as if there's no time to tell the story. I couldn't even get into the characters because by the time I was starting to get to know them, the book was finished!
There could have been conversati...more
Floodland initially gave me the impression of a post-apocolyptic Lord of the Flies style book - a book which greatly impacted me when I read it in highschool and is one that I often consider the implications of and message from to this day.
Even small books can make a big impact, so I was optimistic when I started reading this one. But instead of packing a lot of punch in a small number of pages like I hoped, Floodland read more like a cautionary tale.
Reasons to Read:
1.A relevant message:
Marcus...more
Even small books can make a big impact, so I was optimistic when I started reading this one. But instead of packing a lot of punch in a small number of pages like I hoped, Floodland read more like a cautionary tale.
Reasons to Read:
1.A relevant message:
Marcus...more
This novel is aimed at older children and won the Branford Boase Award.
The story is set some time in the not too distant future. England has been almost completly reclaimed by the sea. Zoe, the heroine of the story hasnt seen her father and her sick mother since they sailed away from the island of Norwich on the last boat to leave, Zoe was accidentally left behind and has had to face life alone. Zoe comes across an abandoned old boat and spends hours making it seaworthy, she escapes and makes h...more
The story is set some time in the not too distant future. England has been almost completly reclaimed by the sea. Zoe, the heroine of the story hasnt seen her father and her sick mother since they sailed away from the island of Norwich on the last boat to leave, Zoe was accidentally left behind and has had to face life alone. Zoe comes across an abandoned old boat and spends hours making it seaworthy, she escapes and makes h...more
Interesting premise, but somehow the story missed the mark. I think this book could have been more of an odyssey for the main character...there could have been soooooo much more to the story. I also felt like the ending came way to quickly and was sort of contrived. This story had moments of great potential that I felt were missed. I am frustrated because I wanted to expand the story myself. Good idea, but it just fell a little flat for me and now I am whining about it...blah!
This could have been much better and I can't even place precisely why I disliked it so. Given the setting it just seemed like more could've happened. The baddies didn't seem bad enough to dislike, or even likeable, so you just don't care either way. The ending felt rushed, and the main character just seemed to push aside any emotions she'd been carrying at the final moment. Bleh.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Maybe a one is a little harsh but I really hate Marcus Sedgwicks' books (No offence to him, I'm sure he's a nice guy). I had to read this for our school topic of global warming and found the book ridiculous and childish. It was probably aimed towards my age group but you might as-well take ten years off me and I would still find it ridiculous. I think he went for a dystopian approach but it completely failed and might as well have been an AWFUL attempted copy of 'Lord Of The Flies'.
I got lande...more
It was really great to finally read Marcus Sedgwick's first novel, though I didn't really enjoy it much. It just didn't seem to have that haunting quality to it, the quality I have found in all of his other books so far. Don't get me wrong, it was a decent read, but not up to his usual earth-shattering standard.
As has been said, written for young adults so a bit difficult to judge. Straightforward story good v evil/ coming of age set against the backdrop of global warming, which the characters do not seem to understand. Short so characters are undeveloped but has an ending brimming with humanity.
I don't know why but the plot of this book is making me think about The Swiss Family Robinson.
A total let down. A great premise for a book (hence the extra star) totally wasted. Not a book I'd recommend to anyone. I felt nothing for any of the characters, and the end was just unbelievable and irritating.
Gripping dystopian fantasy suitable for younger readers; some disturbing moments / mentions of torture and death, but nothing graphic or too much for middle-grade readers to handle.
Very enjoyable little story, and very well narrated. Refreshing change from Going Bovine and Last Summer of the Death Warriors, both audios I've listened to which draaaaaaaaaaaaaaag.
The oceans are rising, most land is now underwater. What land is left is being harbored by groups of heathens.
it was a little youngish, but it was good and had a great start, middle, and end.
I think this book is targeted at YA's but it felt to me like it was written for an even younger audience. Great concept but poor execution.
Pretty good post-apocalyptic story with England basically flooded out & only a few small islands of land remaining above water. Bits had a Lord of the Flies feel to it. Felt the ending was a little abrupt and matter of fact. I would have liked to learn more about what life was like in mainland Europe which the girl was trying to reach.
Sep 08, 2007
Krista the Krazy Kataloguer
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-childrens-books
Apocalyptic vision of an earth flooded from global warming.
Teens struggle to survive on the islands that were once England.
Teens struggle to survive on the islands that were once England.
Slightly creepy, dystopian novel... though it really could have done with being a lot scarier than it was!
Apr 14, 2013
Mary
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
end-of-the-world,
realistic-fiction
Felt really slow and dull. Might try again another day.
This was short, sweet and solidly entertaining.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What's The Name o...: Children's or YA: people trying to escape from a flooded England. [s] | 2 | 39 | May 23, 2012 10:42pm |
Marcus Sedgwick (b 1968) was born in Kent, England. Marcus is a British author and illustrator as well as a musician. He used to play for two bands namely playing the drums for Garrett and as the guitarist in an ABBA tribute group. He has published novels such as Floodland (winner of the Branford Boase Award in 2001) and The Dark Horse (shortlisted for The Guardian Children's Book Award 2002).
More about Marcus Sedgwick...
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Mar 09, 2010 10:49pm