Em and her younger brother Miro hate the ‘home’ they are in, as it is anything but. The Neand guards are rough, scathing and sneering, and the cries of pain within the home are heard often. Nightmares are common among the human inmates, and when Miro is assaulted Em decides it’s time to stop dreaming about escaping and do it.

Charlie, Pru and Ivy are heading north to find a farm with little more than a photo to guide them. It’s an abandoned hippie fam on a peninsula in Northland belonging to a scientist friend of Ngaire’s, and also a sliver of hope.

Em and Miro have a long journey ahead of them from the deep south and up through the country. They meet people along the way, some willing to aid their journey and pass them onto more kind people, and some not so welcoming. It’s tough, and frightening, Em constantly aware she must keep her quirky brother safe. Just when they begin to relax a little in the safety of other humans and safety, their world drops from under them and they are on the move again.

With Neands now the dominant race ruling NZ, the only way information between humans travels the country is by word of mouth or couriers transferring messages or scientific data and specimens. Em and Miro, and Pru, Charlie and Ivy become part of this important chain.

There is laughter and loss along the way, meeting new people and learning to trust again. Charlie and Pru’s relationship strengthens even as they believe all could be lost. Charlie doesn’t lose hope of finding his mum again, and Ivy’s anger at the world slowly wanes.

The one thing they have to keep them going is hope. Hope that there is a tomorrow, a way forward – either developing some sort of vaccine to save what little of humanity is left, and / or finding a way to live alongside the worldwide new race called Neands.

A fitting sequel to Neands, Neands 2 strives forward into territory only held by a often wavering tether of hope for the future. Experiments must be performed, bringing grief and frustration, and courage must be mined again and again just getting up to face a new day.

Friendships and blended families are forged along the way, and stereotypes broken when new Neands are encountered who aren’t angry, violent or just plain mean.

A new world, or a just a new normal, is the aim for these five kids, and they face all manner of challenges to find it. Anger, guns, spite, hunger, exhaustion, terror and even tornadoes stand in their way, but with a combined strength they keep going.

Author – Dan Salmon

Age – 13+

Read a Review of NEANDS 1 (Click on the Cover)

(2022, Onetree House, Virus, Genes, Science, Grief, Violence, Children’s Home, Prison, Escape, Change, Friendship, First Love, Action, Fear, Mystery, Fight, Danger, Guns, Couriers, Hope, Sailing, Boats, Journey, Kindness, Experiments, Blended family, Siblings, Sequel, Series)