Book of the Week: The Compound

The 2008 young adult fiction novel The Compound by S. A. Bodeen is a different coming-of-age story.

For the Yanakakis family, the world did not end with a bang.

To survive a nuclear attack, billionaire Rex Yanakakis moves his family to an underground compound which has been built and lavishly equipped just for this purpose. 

Lamenting the loss of his beloved grandmother and twin brother Eddy, who were left behind during the attack, Eli has a hard time adjusting to life in the compound. 

After having lived in the underground shelter for about six years, Eli begins to question some of the happenings in the compound. Why does his mother keep having children? And why does his father stay locked up in his office most of the time? 

When he is able to connect to the Internet one day, he makes a stunning discovery which makes him question his father’s motives and makes him realize that he may be the only one who can save his family.