Pacifica - Hardcover

Simmons, Kristen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0765336634 ISBN 13: 9780765336637

Publisher: Tor Teen, 2018

Synopsis

"A harrowing world. Pacifica will have you breathlessly fearing our own future."―Sara Raasch, New York Times bestselling author

Blue skies. Green grass. Clear ocean water. An island paradise like the ones that existed before the Melt.

A lucky five hundred lottery winners will be the first to go, the first to leave their polluted, dilapidated homes behind and start a new life. It sounds perfect. Like a dream.

The only problem? Marin Carey spent her childhood on those seas and knows there’s no island paradise out there. She’s corsario royalty, a pirate like her father and his father before him, and she knows a con when she sees one. So where are the First Five Hundred really going?

"A bleak, futuristic world that's utterly believable and terrifying, and yet from out of it springs the greatest of hope, carried on the back of its fierce main characters. I was swept away." ―Mindee Arnett, author of Avalon

About this title

About the Author

Kristen Simmons is the author of the ARTICLE 5 series, THE GLASS ARROW and METALTOWN. She has worked with survivors of abuse and trauma as a mental health therapist, taught Jazzercise in five states, and is forever in search of the next best cupcake. Currently she lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, where she spends her days supporting the caffeine industry and chasing her delightfully rambunctious son.

From School Library Journal

Gr 7–10—In this futuristic adventure, the narrative flips between the privileged Cliffdweller President's son, Ross, and a hardscrabble Shoreling girl, Marin, who eventually kidnaps him. Facing climate crisis and population crowding, the President and his cabinet have contrived an elaborate scheme to select a lucky 500 Shorelings to be the first relocated to Pacifica, a supposed island paradise, although the promotional materials all appear to have been digitally enhanced. When Ross and the less high-born Vice President's son, Adam, are out "slumming" among rioting protestors, they quickly find themselves in harm's way and lured into the hands of actual pirates. A picaresque series of swashbuckling episodes ensues, cementing the romantic bond between Ross and his "captor," Marin. Although readers may be tempted to "ship" the two boys, Adam and Ross, the author creates a very tame romance between Marin and Ross, complicated by the fact that Marin wrestles with her own issues of familial abandonment. What starts as an extremely strong dystopian concept novel dissolves into a pirate action story, complete with a clichéd jailbreak (including shooting the lock off a cell). The conclusion attempts to recapture the political intrigue laid out in the early chapters but falls flat, allowing the President to escape culpability by simplistically claiming naivete. Likewise, the contrast between social classes, a theme that was introduced early on, is never completely explored. VERDICT A solid but not necessary addition for sci-fi action shelves.—Leah Krippner, Harlem High School, Machesney Park, IL

About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Teen
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0765336634
• ISBN 13: 9780765336637
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384