Transcendent - Hardcover

Detweiler, Katelyn

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0451469631 ISBN 13: 9780451469632

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers, 2016

Synopsis

A timely work of contemporary magical realism, about a world plagued by violence, and the girl called upon to be a hero.
 
When terrorists bomb Disney World, seventeen-year-old Iris Spero is as horrified as anyone else. Then a stranger shows up on her stoop in Brooklyn, revealing a secret about the mysterious circumstances surrounding Iris’s birth, and throwing her entire identity into question. Everything she thought she knew about her parents, and about herself, is a lie.
 
Suddenly, the press is confronting Iris with the wild notion that she might be “special.” More than just special: she could be the miracle the world now so desperately needs. Families all across the grieving nation are pinning their hopes on Iris like she is some kind of saint or savior. She’s no longer sure whom she can trust—except for Zane, a homeless boy who long ago abandoned any kind of hope. She knows she can’t possibly be the glorified person everyone wants her to be… but she also can’t go back to being safe and anonymous. When nobody knows her but they all want a piece of her, who is Iris Spero now? And how can she—one teenage girl—possibly heal a broken world?

About this title

About the Author

Katelyn Detweiler (katelyndetweiler.com) was born and raised in Pennsylvania, living in a centuries-old farmhouse surrounded by fields and woods—a setting that fueled her childhood imagination and, many years later, inspired her YA debut, Immaculate. Katelyn is a writer by night (and weekend) and a literary agent by day, representing books for all ages and across all genres. She currently lives, works, and writes in Brooklyn. Find her on Twitter @katedetweiler.

Reviews

Gr 10 Up—An inspirational story about finding the strength to believe in oneself. Iris Spero is a high school student in New York City preparing to start her senior year when a terrorist attack on Disney World shakes the nation. Not long after the tragedy, a stranger arrives on her doorstep seeking help. This visit exposes a secret about Iris's existence that is nothing short of impossible. Hurt and feeling lost, she finds an unlikely friend and confidant in Zane, a cynical homeless teenager. Together they unravel the past and try to discover who they are while dealing with the growing pressure for Iris to produce a miracle. This thought-provoking follow-up to Detweiler's Immaculate does well as a stand-alone. The main characters are multidimensional and relatable, adding an authentic feel to this contemporary tale of magical realism. Romance is sprinkled throughout but is not a major theme. Instead, the focus is on familial and social issues that plague today's society. Although slow to start, the novel picks up momentum with each passing chapter, leading to a page-turning conclusion. VERDICT An excellent addition to any high school or public library, this book will attract readers of contemporary fantasy.—Melissa Poole, Clemson University Library, Anderson, SC

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Where were you the day Disney World was bombed?

This is the question that will haunt my generation for the rest of our lives. The twenty-fourth of August. An awful ghoul now, still so fresh in our memories, fading into a hazier shadow that will walk beside us until the very end. Our skin will prickle as we drive by a summer carnival or see pictures of an old castle and its arching, majestic towers; when we tuck our own children into bed someday, and they ask us to read them a story filled with princes and princesses. Because our fairy tale ended that day. Our castles were covered in blood.

This type of question is not new, of course. Each generation has its own markers, its own moments that were so devastating, so beyond comprehension, that the world stopped spinning when they first heard the news. Where were you when JFK was shot? When the planes crashed into the Twin Towers?

We come together in the wake of these epic tragedies. We hope for change; we promise ourselves and each other that this won’t happen again, can’t possibly happen again. That this time, our world will be different.

Then it does happen, somehow worse than the last time, despite our intentions. Our world—it is not so different after all. Humanity is predictable in its restlessness and its frustration, its ability to cause destruction, and its ability to so soon forget.

But we cannot forget this.

If there is a next time—if there is a grander, more terrifying next time—the world will end. It must. Because how could there be worse? How could there possibly be anything worse, without our whole broken, beautiful world going up in flames?

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0451469631
• ISBN 13: 9780451469632
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448