Toxic Planet: Nicola Davies, Home (London: Walker Books, 2005).

This book is a throwback to the 1960s with its classic theme, the elders are lying to us.

Sacks lives in a Worker Station producing Product for the Supas who feed it back to the workers as addictive Meals. When a rebel raid on the station goes wrong she meets up with Nero, a Supa boy of the same age. Bother are captured by rebels and both discover they are the children of Bly, the leader of the rebels. They have various adventures and discover that Planet Home, promised by the Supas is a myth, and so too is the idea that the Earth that they live on is an alien and poisonous planet.

Home is pretty well written (with the exception of the news letter at the start which gives away the entire book) but it is incredibly unoriginal. The plot is straight from a John Christopher novel, Lady Liberty is found sunk beneath the waves, the children turn out not to be who we think, and they go on to be predestined to lead the people. Where it does score is that this is the book to give your child if they want to learn to make explosives. The instructions are quite detailed.