The opening chapter isn’t what you’d expect. It doesn’t start off with Jessica Mather but allows us to see her through the lens of another observer. The traveler liaison Jim Kelly is impressed by Jessica Mathers and we are too. Self-possessed, inquisitive, odd, probing, assured yet with a decided chip on her shoulder, she’s miles away from the typical adolescent you generally encounter in YA fiction. Most of those are struggling to make it through high school. She’s getting ready to meet parents who essentially abandoned her for six years to study an alien volcano.
Jessica isn’t happy about this but she doesn’t take it out on Jim, the way many teenagers might. There’s no shouting, storming or weeping. You don’t even get the impression that there’ll be an ugly scene when her parents finally do show themselves. Jessica has other things on her mind.
When the mission goes awry, the shock of finding herself on a deserted, shattered space lander is only the first of many. The author has us as startled and frightened as Jessica although she recovers more quickly than most of us would. It makes sense; Jessica is living in a century and with technology that makes space travel familiar, almost commonplace. The wonder of the stars remains but with the added sensation of the ordinary. Modern-day people who’ve grown up watching “Star Trek” aren’t even close to achieving Jessica’s aplomb.
Mr. Kirby has his work cut out for him. He must preserve that blending of shock and awe of the alien stars and the familiar. He must render credible the fortitude of a girl who must cope with an unexpected disaster and the one person she never anticipated seeing.
He delivers. The story engages from the first paragraph, Jessica is a force to be reckoned with and the abrupt conflict set up by the plot leaves the reader hungry for more. What happened before and what happens next?
Jessica isn’t happy about this but she doesn’t take it out on Jim, the way many teenagers might. There’s no shouting, storming or weeping. You don’t even get the impression that there’ll be an ugly scene when her parents finally do show themselves. Jessica has other things on her mind.
When the mission goes awry, the shock of finding herself on a deserted, shattered space lander is only the first of many. The author has us as startled and frightened as Jessica although she recovers more quickly than most of us would. It makes sense; Jessica is living in a century and with technology that makes space travel familiar, almost commonplace. The wonder of the stars remains but with the added sensation of the ordinary. Modern-day people who’ve grown up watching “Star Trek” aren’t even close to achieving Jessica’s aplomb.
Mr. Kirby has his work cut out for him. He must preserve that blending of shock and awe of the alien stars and the familiar. He must render credible the fortitude of a girl who must cope with an unexpected disaster and the one person she never anticipated seeing.
He delivers. The story engages from the first paragraph, Jessica is a force to be reckoned with and the abrupt conflict set up by the plot leaves the reader hungry for more. What happened before and what happens next?