The aliens are starting to hatch ! Fans left desperate for more at the end of Bloom will dive into the non-stop action of this second book in the Overthrow trilogy . First the rain brought seeds. Seeds that grew into alien plants that burrowed and strangled and fed . Seth, Anaya, and Petra are strangely immune to the plants' toxins and found a way to combat them. But just as they have their first success, the rain begins again. This rain brings eggs. That hatch into insects. Not small insects. Bird-sized mosquitos that carry disease. Borer worms that can eat through the foundation of a house. Boat-sized water striders that carry away their prey. But our heroes aren't able to help this time--they've been locked away in a government lab with other kids who are also immune. What is their secret? Could they be...part alien themselves? Whose side are they on? Kenneth Oppel expertly escalates the threats and ratchets up the tension in this can't-read-it-fast-enough adventure with an alien twist. Readers will be gasping for the next book as soon as they turn the last page... " Riveting.  Oppel’s chillingly beautiful , detailed world is the perfect backdrop to the action-packed plot." — Kirkus Reviews "Thrilling." — Booklist " The appeal of fantasy, suspense, horror, and relationships will be too strong for readers to resist, and they will be avidly awaiting the final book in this series.  An impressive addition to the outstanding trilogy.  This belongs on all young sci-fi thriller shelves." — School Library Journal "With peril around every corner and plenty of raw emotion, Oppel has crafted a compelling story about what makes a person a human being ." — The Horn Book Magazine KENNETH OPPEL is one of the most highly regarded authors of middle-grade fiction writing today. Some of his best-known titles are Inkling,The Nest, Airborn, a 2005 Printz Honor Book, and Silverwing . Find him online at www.kennethoppel.ca and @KennethOppel. Chapter One  Anaya  This wasn’t normal rain.  It came as a sudden deluge, pockmarking the water and misting Anaya’s view of the battered city across the harbor. It lashed down on the field of Deadman’s Island, where she stood with Mom and Dad, Petra and her parents, Seth, and Dr. Stephanie Weber. And it wasn’t right.  Just minutes ago, all her attention had been focused on Stanley Park, where the cryptogenic grass and vines were dying. Yesterday they’d been sprayed with an experimental herbicide, and now they were wilting and cracking. Up till now, nothing had been able to kill these plants. They’d spread worldwide, crowding out crops, sending strangling vines into houses, waiting underground to trap and eat animals and people in their acid-filled sacs. But the herbicide that Dad and Dr. Weber had created--it worked. And seconds ago, Anaya had been cheering along with everyone else on the army base who’d rushed out to witness this huge triumph.  But now came the rain. Mostly it was real rain. She could feel it, wet against her face. But among the raindrops were ones that were too big to be normal. They didn’t soak into the earth but bounced and settled on the grass like gleaming translucent beads.  “Hail,” Mom said.  Her mother was a pilot, and Anaya knew she’d seen all kinds of severe weather. Hail in May was weird but not impossible. And Anaya wanted it to be hail. But near her feet, one of the gleaming beads quivered, swelled, then--  Burst.  She stepped back with a gasp as something swift and wet uncoiled from inside. It happened so quickly that she couldn’t tell the thing’s size or shape--except that it seemed too big to come from such a tiny space. In a second, it had burrowed into the earth and disappeared.  “Did you see that?” she cried.  “Eggs,” Dad said, kneeling down as more of them hatched. Their squirming cargo slithered into the grass. He lunged and caught something in his cupped hands, but it squirted between his fingers and was gone.  “Holy crap,” said Seth. “What are they?”  “There’s hundreds of them!” Petra gasped, stamping with her foot.  Anaya’s shoulders jerked at the sound of a gunshot. Across the field, a soldier fired a pistol uselessly at the ground until someone yelled at him to stop.  “They’re everywhere!” she heard another soldier shout.  “We need specimens,” Dr. Weber was saying with remarkable calm.  Anaya spotted several more trembling eggs nestled among the blades of grass. She snatched the coffee cup from Petra’s father and splashed out the contents. Dropping to her knees, she scooped up the eggs and snapped the plastic lid back on.  “Good thinking,” said Dad.  “Let’s get that to the lab,” Dr. Weber said. “Fast.”  As quickly as it had come, the rain subsided. Anaya rushed toward the main building. She felt like she was clutching a grenade. Against the waxed paper was a sudden churning.  “I think they’re hatching!”  She sped up, bolting through the doors, down the corridor, and into Dr. Weber’s laboratory.  “In here,” Dr. Weber