by Laura Liddell Nolen
Published by: HarperVoyager
Publication date: March 26th 2015
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Synopsis:
There’s a meteor headed for Earth, and there is only one way to survive.
With her criminal record, sixteen-year-old Char is never going to get a place on an Ark, one of the five massive bioships designed to protect Earth’s survivors. The Arks are reserved for the real goody-goodies, like Char’s mom, dad, and brother, all of whom have long since turned their backs on her.
With Earth on the brink of destruction, Char must use all her tricks of the trade to swindle her way into outer space, where she hopes to reunite with her family, regardless of whether they want to see her or not.
Once she arrives on the North American Ark, Char discovers that the remnants of humanity haven’t achieved the egalitarian utopia they’d planned for. For starters, the “Officers of the Peace” are anything but peaceful, especially since stealing a spot on an Ark is a crime punishable by death…
Top 10 Favorite Book Quotes
1. "It must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays."
Arthur Dent. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. This one’s on the list because I know exactly how he feels. Also, this book is fantastic. Sci fi comedy for the win.
2. "My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."
Malcolm Reynolds. Figured I’d put it out there right at the beginning: I’m cheating. This is a television show, not a book, and it was written by Joss Whedon. Firefly. Go forth and view happily.
3. "You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it, Anton: I never saved anything for the swim back."
Vincent Freeman (Gattaca) There I go again, cheating. Although this one’s a movie. It’s as good as science fiction ever got.
4. “All girls your age are witches.”
Finn in Thorn Jack by Katherine Harbour. This scene in particular shows the power of being young and innocent.
5. "We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?" (Fahrenheit 451)
6. I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.”
Sonnet XVII, by Pablo Neruda. This one might not be a real book either, since it’s a poem. But it’s one of the best quotes I’ve ever read about a love that perseveres in spite of brokenness.
7. "Science is magic that works."
Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle. This comes up more often than you might think, when you’re writing sci-fi.
8. Wash: "Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science fiction."
Zoe: "We live in a spaceship, dear."
Firefly again! I love the self-awareness of this quote, as well as how it subtly develops the relationship between Zoe and her husband Wash. She might be my favorite female sci-fi character ever.
9. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
George Orwell, 1984. This is the greatest opening line of all time, and one of the best sci-fi quotes ever. The reader doesn’t know how wrong everything is yet, but something’s definitely off.
10. “You mean old books?"
"Stories written before space travel but about space travel."
"How could there have been stories about space travel before --"
"The writers," Pris said, "made it up.”
Phillip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Besides coming from one of the finest and most celebrated pieces of sci-fi ever written, this quote is meaningful to me because I write and read sci-fi, and my book is about space travel.
AUTHOR BIO:
Laura grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where she spent an excellent childhood playing make-believe with her two younger brothers. The Ark is the direct result of those stories and a lifelong devotion to space-themed television. It received a Work in Progress Grant from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Laura has a degree in French and a license to practice law, but both are frozen in carbonite at present. She lives in Texas with her family.
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