Shot Down (After the Dust Settled) - Tapa blanda

"In postapocalyptic Iowa, Malik and his pal, Captain, are stranded after their hot-air balloon gets shot down. Left pondering why and what hit them, they consult their survival guidebook for tips on fleeing from bloodhounds and a father and son, Kyle and Pop-Pop, who believe in hunting the weak to make the world fit for the strong. After they trap Malik and the Captain, a series of escapes reveals how true friendship can survive the perilous bonds of savagery. A turning point surfaces when Kyle injures himself and Malik decides to help him, teaching him that there's another type of strong--putting those who are in need of help before oneself. Reluctant readers will most likely snatch up this short action-adventure. Futuristic and fast-paced, this series entry is sure to appeal to fans of Jeff Hirsch's The Eleventh Plague (Scholastic) and Veronica Roth's Divergent (HarperCollins, both 2012)." --School Library Journal

"A highly efficient post-disaster adventure story, one of three that introduce a new series.

Young Malik, flying with the Captain in a hot air balloon, is shot out of the sky. They survive the landing, but the crash is the least of their problems. In post-apocalyptic America, humans are more dangerous than anything else in the wild. The family with the gun that shot them down has a hunt in mind, and they prefer to hunt man. Luckily, Malik and the Captain have the Gene Matterhorn Wilderness Survival Guidebook on their side. A conceptual push-pull between sentimentalism and social Darwinism provides more meat to the story without getting in the way of the action. The characters are distinct and surprisingly complex for such a short exposure. The ending leaves a lot of room for readers to decide the ultimate result of Malik and the Captain's full journey. The After the Dust Settled world is shared among authors in a series of books with similar brief length. Publishing simultaneously are Plague Riders, by Gabriel Goodman, a heart-pounding adventure about couriers who work for a despotic doctor, and a flight from slavers in the weaker River Run, by Deirdre Black. Along with low pagecount, these titles share the survival guidebook, quick pace and ambiguous endings.

Ideal for readers looking for maximum bang for the buck and no wasted words in their reading experience. (Adventure. 12-18)" --Kirkus Reviews