THE WASP CHILD

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.