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Readers' rating:
Published Mar 2013
350 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
A sensational YA science fiction debut from an exciting new British author. Jarra is stuck on Earth while the rest of humanity portals around the universe. But can she prove to the norms that she's more than just an Earth Girl?
2788. Only the handicapped live on Earth. While everyone else portals between worlds, 18-year-old Jarra is among the one in a thousand people born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Sent to Earth at birth to save her life, she has been abandoned by her parents. She can't travel to other worlds, but she can watch their vids, and she knows all the jokes they make. She's an 'ape', a 'throwback', but this is one ape girl who won't give in.
Jarra invents a fake background for herself – as a normal child of Military parents – and joins a class of norms that is on Earth to excavate the ruins of the old cities. When an ancient skyscraper collapses, burying another research team, Jarra's role in their rescue puts her in the spotlight. No hiding at back of class now. To make life more complicated, she finds herself falling in love with one of her classmates – a norm from another planet. Somehow, she has to keep the deception going.
A freak solar storm strikes the atmosphere, and the class is ordered to portal off-world for safety – no problem for a real child of military parents, but fatal for Jarra. The storm is so bad that the crews of the orbiting solar arrays have to escape to planet below: the first landing from space in 600 years. And one is on collision course with their shelter.
"Starred Review. Action, rich archaeological detail and respectfully levelheaded disability portrayal, refreshingly free from symbolism and magical cures, make this stand out." - Kirkus
"With a dash of action, sprinkling of romance, some teenage angst and a couple of collapsing skyscrapers, this novel contains everything you could possibly want to grab a teenage reader and keep them utterly enthralled." - Starburst Magazine
"A break from the norms." - SFX magazine
"In her debut novel, Janet Edwards has created an authentic futuristic world with enough history and adventure to keep readers captivated." - Amazon Kindle Editors' Pick
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Janet Edwards lives in the Midlands (UK). As a child, she read everything she could get her hands on, which included the works of many of the great names of Science Fiction. She read Maths at Oxford, and went on to suffer years of writing unbearably complicated technical documents. When the company she worked for entered the stormy waters of take over land, she decided it was time to jump ship and try writing something that was fun for a change. She has a husband, a son, a lot of books, and an aversion to housework.
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