Survive the Dome

The Hate U Give meets Internment in this pulse-pounding thriller about an impenetrable dome around Baltimore that is keeping the residents in and information from going out during a city-wide protest.
Jamal Lawson just wanted to be a part of something. As an aspiring journalist, he packs up his camera and heads to Baltimore to document a rally protesting police brutality after another Black man is murdered.
But before it even really begins, the city implements a new safety protocol…the Dome. The Dome surrounds the city, forcing those within to subscribe to a total militarized shutdown. No one can get in, and no one can get out.
Alone in a strange place, Jamal doesn't know where to turn…until he meets hacker Marco, who knows more than he lets on, and Catherine, an AWOL basic-training-graduate, whose parents helped build the initial plans for the Dome.
As unrest inside of Baltimore grows throughout the days-long lockdown, Marco, Catherine, and Jamal take the fight directly to the chief of police. But the city is corrupt from the inside out, and it's going to take everything they have to survive.
From School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up—"Journalists often ask questions to get to the truth." Jamal nervously and excitedly attends a protest against police brutality as a high school journalist, anticipating grabbing a few stellar photos for his college applications. Almost immediately, Jamal is put in an uncomfortable position with a cop at the event, where he meets an older student, Marco, who belongs to a secret society and has inside knowledge about the protest. Suddenly, the protest and surrounding city of Baltimore are cast under a mysterious dome that disables technology and traps the protestors. Orchestrated by the governor, the dome is intended to promote "law and order," though this approach may incite more violence than it prevents. Jamal and Marco now must fight for their freedom and lives. Combining contemporary and science fiction with a hint of the thriller genre, Jackson has created a stunning future United States in which technology is being used to control people and heighten racial tensions. Jackson brings together Black Lives Matter with an influence of the Hunger Games to ask questions such as: "Who deserves freedom?" and "Who is a criminal?" Teen readers will enjoy the social commentary and puzzling through those questions as they see representations of racial and LGBTQIA+ diversity. VERDICT This novel will keep readers on their toes, holding their breath, and hoping Jamal makes it out of the dome alive. A highly recommended, thrilling read.—Tracey S. Hodges