Book Review of Behind the Gates by Eva Gray

Behind the Gates (Tomorrow Girls #1)

Eva Gray

Published: May 1, 2011
ARC Received from Scholastic

In a terrifying future world, four girls must depend on each other if they want to survive.
Louisa is nervous about being sent away to a boarding school — but she’s excited, too. And she has her best friend, Maddie, to keep her company. The girls have to pretend to be twin sisters, which Louisa thinks just adds to the adventure!

Country Manor School isn’t all excitement, though. Louisa isn’t sure how she feels about her new roommates: athletic but snobby Rosie and everything’s-a-conspiracy Evelyn. Even Maddie seems different away from home, quiet and worried all the time.

Still, Louisa loves CMS — the survival skills classes, the fresh air. She doesn’t even miss not having a TV, or the internet, or any contact with home. It’s for their own safety, after all.

Or is it? – Goodreads

I really enjoyed this middle-grade dystopian focusing on four young teenage girls at a boarding school. Dystopian is the big thing right now and I’m excited to see it being written for the MG crowd as well.

Tomorrow Girls is a fast, fun read that is perfect for the middle-grade reader.

Eva Gray introduces the reader to a world that has been destroyed by war – a war that is still going on – and four girls that are sent to a boarding school by their parents.

THE CHARACTERS

The main characters in this book Behind The Gates are Louisa and Maddie – best friends who are pretending to be sisters so Maddie can get into CMS with Louisa. CMS is supposed to be the best school for the girls – but when they get their weird things start to happen and Maddie starts to question her surroundings while Louisa thrives in the atmosphere.

When they get to CMS all the girls are stripped of any type of technology, jewelry, etc. – anything that has any meaning to them. When they question anything about the school they are given no answers and are not allowed to see/talk to their parents.

Pretty scary, huh?

I would be freakin’ out. I’m 28 years old and talk to my mom at LEAST once a day. (Let’s be real – it’s probably 3 times a day.)

As Louisa and Maddie become more involved in the activities of the school – they start to realize that some things aren’t as they seem and maybe it’s not for their safety after all.

Being a middle school librarian, I was so happy to get this book Behind The Gates for review.

It is definitely something that I want on my shelves for them to read.

While it is dystopian, it is also about survival, loyalty, and thinking for your self and not following the crowd. There were some things that I saw coming but if a younger student was reading this book I think they would totally be shocked. Gray really does a great job of crafting the story and taking a young reader on some twists and turns.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I don’t mind that it is directed at a younger audience – it is still a fun, fast read and I’m thoroughly looking forward to the next book in the series to see how the girls survive all the twists that were thrown at them in Behind the Gates.