"The story is well-paced and has some interesting twists and turns. It's hard to tell who Max's allies and enemies are among the adults in the story, which adds to the level of suspense...This book has definite teen-appeal for both boys and girls."
The Next Best Book Blog (TNBBC)
"Imaginative and affecting...A smart, polished novel, peopled with realistic characters in a well-developed, futuristic world...The books builds on cultural familiarity, resulting in an emotionally engaging work."
"Austen writes with cinematic definition, driving the action with taut dialogue and unremitting menace. By alternating recognizable adolescent struggles with dystopian horrors, she makes the threat of totalitarian mind control all the more visceral...Action-packed, terrifying, and believable, this entertaining novel will provoke important discussions about subservience, resistance, and individual freedom."
"This book describes the thoughts and feelings of a 15 year old boy in a very real way...Austen shows great power in her research of teenage psychology...Another amazing factor is the integration of racial backgrounds. There are very few minority main characters in the YA genre and there need to be more...Congrats to Austen on a book well done!"
"The world that Austen has built is terrifying and chillingly easy to imagine, and she challenges her readers to think about issues of race, social class, gender and freedom."
Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) Canadian Children’s Book News
"I would recommend this book to all dystopian lovers. I think this could hold its own in a competition with some of the most popular dystopian novels today."
The Musings of a Book Addict
"[If] you're looking for a great read for yourself or a teenager you know, Catherine Austen's novel All Good Children is an excellent choice...Austen provides many nuanced details of life in the near future, from facts on transportation and garbage disposal to the devastating effects of global warming. Strong characterization as well as a thrilling and horrifyingly plausible plot all combine to make All Good Children a wonderful read."
Montreal Review of Books (MRB)
"Austen creates a believably scary dystopian society that is not too far removed from out own. Readers will find this novel a chilling introduction to the idea of government-initiated mind and behavior control, and they will cheer at Max's resistance, which is manifested not only in his attitude but also in his artwork."
School Library Connection (SLC)
"Anyone who enjoys being taken out of their every day should find lots to recommend about All Good Children ."
"The plot keeps the reader on edge...Skillfully, Catherine Austen ensures that Max is seen as a smart aleck kid who has moments of brilliance and compassion, helping the readers clarify their own perspectives on this new world and its way of doing things."
CanLit for Little Canadians
"I love this book! It's important and riveting. And somehow, miraculously, it manages to be deeply scary and funny at the same time."
"The book's stark view of humanity is buoyed by Max's witty commentary and his warm relationships with both his best friend and his little sister...Given Max's knack for getting out of a tight spot, [the book offers] an organic and satisfying conclusion to a harrowing tale."
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"Delivered...heart-pounding intensity that left me turning the pages long into the early morning when I should have been sleeping. The characters in All Good Children are amazingly portrayed...One of the reasons this book impacts so hard is because of how attached you get to the characters. All the tension and anxiety bleeds through the pages and it's impossible not to cringe and laugh and want to cry."
"An imaginative work of dystopian fiction...Austen's novel is engrossing and deeply funny, and simultaneously important and frightening."
"In its use of race, gender, social class and technology, All Good Children can stand with the best of the [dystopian] genre."
"Austen's conflicts will resound with younger readers and her character development and theme will resound with older readers...Her treatment of the topic is new, scary and inspirational."
TriState Young Adult Book Review
"The strengths of this dystopian novel include a creepy premise and Max's strong first-person narrative voice pointing out wry humour in the most dire of situations."
"I would recommend this book to all dystopian lovers. I think this could hold its own in a competition with some of the most popular dystopian novels today."
The Musings of a Book Addict blog
"The story is well-paced and has some interesting twists and turns. It's hard to tell who Max's allies and enemies are among the adults in the story, which adds to the level of suspense...This book has definite teen-appeal for both boys and girls."
"Anyone who enjoys being taken out of their every day should find lots to recommend about All Good Children ."
"Austen's conflicts will resound with younger readers and her character development and theme will resound with older readers...Her treatment of the topic is new, scary and inspirational."
Tri State YA Book Review Committee
"Delivered...heart-pounding intensity that left me turning the pages long into the early morning when I should have been sleeping. The characters in All Good Children are amazingly portrayed...One of the reasons this book impacts so hard is because of how attached you get to the characters. All the tension and anxiety bleeds through the pages and it's impossible not to cringe and laugh and want to cry."
Escape Through the Pages blog
"This book describes the thoughts and feelings of a 15 year old boy in a very real way...Austen shows great power in her research of teenage psychology...Another amazing factor is the integration of racial backgrounds. There are very few minority main characters in the YA genre and there need to be more...Congrats to Austen on a book well done!"
"Austen creates a believably scary dystopian society that is not too far removed from out own. Readers will find this novel a chilling introduction to the idea of government-initiated mind and behavior control, and they will cheer at Max's resistance, which is manifested not only in his attitude but also in his artwork."
School Library Connection
"The plot keeps the reader on edge...Skillfully, Catherine Austen ensures that Max is seen as a smart aleck kid who has moments of brilliance and compassion, helping the readers clarify their own perspectives on this new world and its way of doing things."
CanLit for Little Canadians blog
"[If] you're looking for a great read for yourself or a teenager you know, Catherine Austen's novel All Good Children is an excellent choice...Austen provides many nuanced details of life in the near future, from facts on transportation and garbage disposal to the devastating effects of global warming. Strong characterization as well as a thrilling and horrifyingly plausible plot all combine to make All Good Children a wonderful read."
"The world that Austen has built is terrifying and chillingly easy to imagine, and she challenges her readers to think about issues of race, social class, gender and freedom."
Canadian Children's Book News
"The book's stark view of humanity is buoyed by Max's witty commentary and his warm relationships with both his best friend and his little sister...Given Max's knack for getting out of a tight spot, [the book offers] an organic and satisfying conclusion to a harrowing tale."
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"Austen writes with cinematic definition, driving the action with taut dialogue and unremitting menace. By alternating recognizable adolescent struggles with dystopian horrors, she makes the threat of totalitarian mind control all the more visceral...Action-packed, terrifying, and believable, this entertaining novel will provoke important discussions about subservience, resistance, and individual freedom."
"Max, the main character, is one of the most real teenage characters I can remember reading. He is angry and smart and artistic...Overall [the book] is a celebration of freedom and creativity. A dark but enjoyable read. Funny and disturbing at the same time! Buy it!"
Brass Knuckle Book Reviews
"Sharply written...A complex piece of writing that explores the removal of rights from a society, causing them to lose the most precious thing of all, the innocence and joy of childhood and growing up. Such a serious topic is injected with wonderful moments of humour...All Good Children should be considered a classic dystopian read."
"With its mixture of humor, foreboding, and great characters, All Good Children is a book that you won't regret picking up."
"A wonderful, awe-inspiring book that I really just could not stop reading."
YALSA YA Galley Teen Review
"The book's stark view of humanity is buoyed by Max's witty commentary and his warm relationships with both his best friend and his little sister...Given Max's knack for getting out of a tight spot, [the book offers] an organic and satisfying conclusion to a harrowing tale."
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Gr 8–11—Maxwell Connors lives in the planned community of New Middletown with his mother and younger sister, Ally. It's an oasis in a bleak world of extreme temperatures, oil scarcities, frequent terrorist attacks, and genetically engineered "ultimate" children. Max, an aspiring artist, entertains himself with football, pranks, and the odd act of graffiti. He gradually notices a change in the local children; they have become zombielike in their obedience. Their complacent behavior is linked to the flu shot that everyone except Max and his best friend receives at school (Max's mother, a nurse, fakes the injections). The teen must keep up a charade of conformity, which adds a touch of humor to this otherwise grim novel. Ally is inoculated against her mother's wishes, which ratchets up the urgency for the family's escape to Canada. These final chapters are the book's strongest in terms of suspense and human drama. For example, they pass through Freaktown, where Max's favorite reality show is set, and Max sees these humans in a new light. A bit more exposition would have helped orient readers to Max's world, but this potential problem may actually help some reluctant readers slip right into the action. Repeated use of the word "faggot" accompanies a troubling vein of homophobia throughout. This middling dystopian effort would make a serviceable alternative for readers put off by the length of more substantial futuristic reads such as Neal Shusterman's Unwind (2007) or Jonathan Maberry's Rot & Ruin (2010, both S & S).—Amy Pickett, Ridley High School, Folsom, PA
A corporate-controlled city decides to optimize its schools' efficiency by adjusting students' temperaments.
Max Connors and his family live in New Middletown, a city that puts the gate in gated community. Only the most fortunate live in one of Chemrose International's six cities, protected from the crime, terrorism and poverty of the world at large. But the socioeconomically isolated enclave populated by a mix of natural and genetically selected children has its share of troublemakers, like Max. A bundle of contradictions, Max is a sensitive artist, a caring older brother and a vandal who fights at school while maintaining impressive grades. And there is a lot of pressure to stay academically successful—those who don't keep up in academic school get sent to trade school as throwaways. Max worries that his younger sister, Ally, won't be able to keep up with her classmates. His anxiety increases when students start acting like perfectly obedient zombies after receiving a vaccine that's being deployed one grade at a time. Austen uses Max as a prism in this novel of ideas. As one of the few students able to secretly avoid the treatment, he demonstrates a remarkable and situational moral compass by becoming the only person trying to fight the program itself. While he dabbles in juvenile delinquency on a personal level, when Max sees a larger picture he confronts it, standing up for what he thinks is right despite differing amounts of personal risk. Just trying to keep ownership of his mind, Max's actions send ripples of consequences farther than he could possibly imagine.
A shaded morality tale about individuality. (Dystopia. 12 & up)