Saturday Review: “Journey Through Forgetful Skies and Crash Landings in Near-Future Young Adult Literature,” a review by Alyssa Froemel of Beth Revis’s Full Speed to a Crash Landing (2024) and Lauren Yero’s Under this Forgetful Sky (2023), in NCLR Online Spring 2026
Alyssa Froemel begins by spotlighting the importance of YA literature in the lives of adolescents allowing them to “critically examine societal issues.” She points out “the genre focuses on themes of power, resistance, and social change in which a young character navigates, usually disrupting the status quo.” Revis’s and Yero’s books accomplish this through their portrayal of “dystopian worlds caused by environmental catastrophe that led to the disenfranchisement of several communities.”
Beth Revis’s Full Speed to a Crash Landing takes readers on a journey of action and adventure across space while also defying societal norms reminiscent of real-world discrimination. Froemel notes, “It is clear that humans did not learn from their actions on Earth, and they carry their issues and consequences into space.”
Similarly, Lauren Yero’s Under this Forgetful Sky follows the story of two protagonists whose stories are inspired by Yero’s Cuban-American background and her time in Chile. Unlike Revis’s space setting, Yero grounds the reader in Upper City and Paraiso, two drastically different places which showcase the destructive path Earth is heading towards.
Froemel concludes with “Young Adult literature is often, at its core, about the protagonist’s journey and rebellion against authority.” Revis and Yero create adventures which create purpose in their characters and shine a light on the issues that are currently affecting our society.
Read the entire review here and buy the books from Bookshop.org or your local independent bookstore.
