A well-written story of transformation that’s both emotional and thought-provoking.
A boy undergoes a disturbing, identity-challenging metamorphosis in this debut YA SF novella.
In Meridian Colony, a minor off-Earth research base, Kesh Ugomi has never quite fit in. He’s a “loser freak”: an orphan passed around from family to family, a poor student burdened by food allergies no one else has. His classmates despise him—so much so that, as the story begins, two boys capture Kesh, transport him by hovercraft, and abandon him in the rainforest, shouting: “You can walk home, you disgusting parasite!” He’s discovered by sansiks, the huge, iridescent-shelled, insectlike, intelligent life native to the planet, who bring him to their hive and agree to help Kesh return home. At Meridian, the sansiks ask for a favor (bargained down to one box of fertilizer and a cart) in exchange for Kesh, but his ordeal is only just beginning. His body begins to transform in a way that becomes all the more horrifying when he learns the truth behind it and that he’s destined to be scientifically studied on Earth. With help from his sole friend, Aster Tiu, Kesh devises an escape from this fate to a community where he belongs and has a role to play. In her novella, Rasmussen makes the not uncommon story of a lonely, bullied young adolescent especially compelling because Kesh’s metamorphosis uncomfortably engages with and challenges the disgust most humans feel for insect life. What happens to Kesh isn’t pretty—but there is something beautiful in the sansiks’ care for and acceptance of him, even though his true nature could make him a pariah in the hive. They have a sense of fair play and generosity notably lacking in the colonists. The author also makes the alien world vivid through skillfully crisp sensory descriptions.
A well-written story of transformation that’s both emotional and thought-provoking.Pub Date: June 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-952283-17-8
Page Count: 100
Publisher: Vernacular Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly...
In a radical departure from her realistic fiction and comic chronicles of Anastasia, Lowry creates a chilling, tightly controlled future society where all controversy, pain, and choice have been expunged, each childhood year has its privileges and responsibilities, and family members are selected for compatibility.
As Jonas approaches the "Ceremony of Twelve," he wonders what his adult "Assignment" will be. Father, a "Nurturer," cares for "newchildren"; Mother works in the "Department of Justice"; but Jonas's admitted talents suggest no particular calling. In the event, he is named "Receiver," to replace an Elder with a unique function: holding the community's memories—painful, troubling, or prone to lead (like love) to disorder; the Elder ("The Giver") now begins to transfer these memories to Jonas. The process is deeply disturbing; for the first time, Jonas learns about ordinary things like color, the sun, snow, and mountains, as well as love, war, and death: the ceremony known as "release" is revealed to be murder. Horrified, Jonas plots escape to "Elsewhere," a step he believes will return the memories to all the people, but his timing is upset by a decision to release a newchild he has come to love. Ill-equipped, Jonas sets out with the baby on a desperate journey whose enigmatic conclusion resonates with allegory: Jonas may be a Christ figure, but the contrasts here with Christian symbols are also intriguing.
Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly provocative novel. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: April 1, 1993
ISBN: 978-0-395-64566-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1993
A delightfully autumnal small-town romance buoyed by strong characterization.
Ellis Mitchell has her whole life planned out.
Heading into senior year, Ellis plans to study hard and crush it at the journalism internship her media executive dad got her, paving the way for her acceptance to Columbia University. But then Ellis’ parents announce they’re separating—and that Ellis and her mom will be heading to Bramble Falls to stay with her aunt and cousin. Furious that her careful plans have been upended, Ellis struggles to settle into the small, charming Connecticut town even as everyone around her gears up for the annual Falling Leaves Festival. Ellis runs into Cooper Barnett—her long-ago summer friend from visits to Aunt Naomi and cousin Sloane—who’s grown up to be very handsome. But Cooper isn’t pleased to see Ellis; he’s cold and curt, and she has no idea why. Wilson’s YA debut is chock-full of charm. Readers will swoon at Cooper’s and Ellis’ developing feelings following their frosty reunion and sympathize with Ellis’ difficulties even as Bramble Falls grows on her. She must choose between small-town community ties and big-city ambitions—between what her dad wants for her and what she really wants. Ellis’ relationships with her mom, aunt, and cousin are lovely and aspirational. The depiction of Bramble Falls is evocative, and the book contains enough seasonal delights to satisfy even the most devoted pumpkin spice latte lover. Main characters are cued white.
A delightfully autumnal small-town romance buoyed by strong characterization. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781665975209
Page Count: 352
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
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