The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature where I talk about books I got over the last week – old or new, bought or received for review consideration. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included.
Only one book this week, but it sounds like a good one since science fiction stories influenced by fairy tales tend to pique my interest.
When We Wake by Karen Healey
This young adult science fiction novel will be released in hardcover and ebook on March 5, 2013. There will be a sequel to When We Wake told from a different character’s perspective.
I haven’t read anything by Karen Healey, but I have heard good things about her other books (Guardian of the Dead and The Shattering). It intrigues me to see that When We Wake was influenced by “Sleeping Beauty” and the author has been writing essays about Sleeping Beauty stories leading up to the book’s release.
My name is Tegan Oglietti, and on the last day of my first lifetime, I was so, so happy.
Sixteen-year-old Tegan is just like every other girl living in 2027–she’s happiest when playing the guitar, she’s falling in love for the first time, and she’s joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world: environmental collapse, social discrimination, and political injustice.
But on what should have been the best day of Tegan’s life, she dies–and wakes up a hundred years in the future, locked in a government facility with no idea what happened.
Tegan is the first government guinea pig to be cryonically frozen and successfully revived, which makes her an instant celebrity–even though all she wants to do is try to rebuild some semblance of a normal life. But the future isn’t all she hoped it would be, and when appalling secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: Does she keep her head down and survive, or fight for a better future?
Award-winning author Karen Healey has created a haunting, cautionary tale of an inspiring protagonist living in a not-so-distant future that could easily be our own.
