Zenith - Softcover

Julie Bertagna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 033043229X ISBN 13: 9780330432290

Publisher: Picador, 2008

Synopsis

A startling, thrilling novel set in a dystopian future ravaged by global warming - ZENITH is the stunning sequel to the critically acclaimed, bestselling EXODUS. Sixteen-year-old Mara and her ship of refugees are tracking the North Star, desperate to find a homeland in the melted ice mountains of Greenland. The vast, floating city of Pomperoy is just one of the shocks that are not in their navigation plans. Unwittingly, the refugees bring catastrophe in their wake for Tuck, a gypsea pirate-boy, and also for Ilira - a land whose inhabitants exist in a state of terror at the top of the world. Back in the drowned ruins at the feet of the towering sky city, Fox is beginning his battle with the cruel, corrupt forces that rule the New World. But separated from Mara, his resolve begins to waver . . .

About this title

About the Author

After an early career as a teacher and freelance feature writer for major Scottish newspapers, Julie Bertagna has quickly established a reputation as an author of powerful and original fiction for young people. EXODUS, her first novel for Macmillan, was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award and won the Lancashire Children's Book of the Year Award and the Angus Award. THE OPPOSITE OF CHOCOLATE was shortlisted for the Book Trust Teenage Prize 2004. Julie lives in Glasgow with her husband and daughter.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In this sequel to Exodus (2008), 16-year-old Mara guides a ship of refugees north from New Mungo, hoping to find safe haven in Greenland now that their globally warmed world is almost completely submerged. Upon arrival their ship is sunk and they are enslaved by the barbaric inhabitants of Ilira, who live in apartment-style caves shuttered by automobile doors scavenged from the sea. Eventually Mara and a few others escape, hiking to an interior valley with a glacial lake where they settle permanently. Although told alternately by Mara, Fox, and Tuck, this is mostly Mara’s story—a plucky, imperfect heroine leading the way to an uncertain future in a hostile world filled with inhabitants who do whatever it takes to survive. Still, signs of hope emerge: Mara’s (and Fox’s) baby is born just as the group discovers their promised land; Fox finds encouragement in his campaign against world corruption; and Tuck rehabilitates himself from pirate and thief to builder of fantastic bridges. Sadly, Mara and Fox can no longer communicate (Tuck has stolen part of her cyberwizz, a tool for surfing the Weave), but with a forthcoming final volume in the works, fans can still hope for a reunion. Grades 6-10. --Kay Weisman

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 033043229X
• ISBN 13: 9780330432290
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256