Emily Janice Card

This story starts on Earth, where children are competing to earn a spot in an academy that trains them to work on one of four laddertops. The ladders were provided by aliens called “the Givers,” who disappeared twenty-five years ago. They are 36,000 miles high and only children can service them. Eleven-year-old Robbi and especially her best friend Azure are interested in the academy. They have opposite personality types – one reserved and the other vivacious. The storyline covers show more family lives, selection, education, training, and transportation to the ladder tops.

This is volume one of a series targeted at a middle grade audience. It sets the stage well and contains a mystery that is at least partially solved at the end but leaves the reader wondering what happens next. The artwork is unusual. I liked this more than expected. I doubt manga or graphic novels will become a large percentage of my reading, but I am more open to reading them in the future. show less

Robbi is a young girl (in Middle School, I think) who ends up getting into Laddertop Academy because her mother secretly sent in her application. Her best friend Azure wants to go so badly, and they both get accepted to the academy for training. While there, Robbi has a string of strange experiences connected with to the mystery surrounding the aliens that gave Earth the Laddertop towers. No one really knows anything about the advanced technology, how to change it, how to fix it, and show more definitely not how to replicate it. It seems the reason only young children are capable of fitting into the small tubes for maintenance is very much intentional on the part of the mysterious alien givers.

Robbi is the main character and she's just an average girl her age, although perhaps a little short in stature. That's a good thing for kids in this world because the smaller and smarter you are, the more likely you are to get selected to attend Laddertop Academy. Azure is a spunky tomboy who's been dreaming of attending the Academy her whole life, although Robbi never wanted to leave home because her mother's husband is physically violent and she's afraid he'll start abusing her little sisters and mother while she's away. I like Robbi, but with so little of the story contained in this volume, it's hard to get a clear idea of her personality.

The concept of this story is really great—something very much up my alley. It reminds me of my favorite science fiction anime, which I believe is an influence. The mystery surrounding the aliens is very intriguing because they seem a little too sneaky. What are they up to? All the adults running the Laddertop towers try to uncover the towers' secrets only to be constantly stumped. While I really like the premise and the world building, both are well done, I'm not usually into stories meant for younger children, so this one seemed a bit lackluster to me.

Because it is a manga-style comic book, the writing is done through talk bubbles and captions, and it's done well. The artwork, which has to be mentioned, on the other hand, is not my favorite. I just didn't feel like the quality was good enough and the style wasn't very appealing to me, either.

Favorite Scene/Moment: I liked the scene where Robbi picked up a metallic bug-looking object and it suddenly started carving out some alien symbols into her arm. That was unexpected and very cool! Never found out what any of it meant in this volume, unfortunately. show less

LADDERTOP starts off on Earth with an application competition to an elite academy which trains children for working 36,000 miles up at the top of a tower. This first volume goes through the competition, election, training, and transportation through the tower of the chosen children. The Earth scenes look modern day but the story takes place 25 years after aliens visited Earth, built the towers, and then disappeared.
Robbi and Azure are best friends who are both in the competition. Robbi is show more the quieter one who has problems at home but feels she is the only one who can solve them, while Azure is a little spitfire who will take on any challenges but often gets in a jam because of it.
The plot answers some questions 11-yr-olds might ask when reading this (like how do you go to the bathroom when you’re strapped in a chair on an 18 hour journey?) but also leaves several unanswered, building the complexity for later volumes.
I was surprised at how much the book held my interest. The drawings conveying emotions are spot-on and there is continuing action throughout the book. I liked how so many intriguing things were going on. What does the scanner really scan the children for? What are the drawings on Robbi’s arm? What is the real work being done at the top of Laddertop? I would have to recommend LADDERTOP to middle readers because I for one really want to find out what happens in the next volume!

I received this through goodreads' First Reads giveaways. show less

If Ender's Game didn't exist this maybe would have merited a third star, but it's shallow and derivative and not all that realistic. There is a bunch of foreshadowing that I assume will be followed up in subsequent volumes, but as a stand-alone experience it's not very good.