Salvage

Gr 9 Up—Seventeen-year-old Ava was born and raised aboard a spaceship, the Parastrata, but when she makes an understandable, yet regrettable, mistake, she is cast out by her patriarchal family to the unfamiliar and unforgiving Earth below. With just her aptitude for "Fixes" and her spirit for survival, the teen must navigate through the Gyre, a floating wasteland of trash in the Pacific, to ultimately end up in Mumbai, where she searches for her modrie, her blood-aunt. Duncan delivers a finely paced dystopian novel that relentlessly charges through the finer plot points, which may leave readers confused as to how Earth became a technologically advanced wasteland. Another small hiccup is the strange dialogue among the Parastrata's inhabitants, including Ava, without explanation, which may be off-putting to slow and reluctant readers. However, the strength of Ava's character carries readers through the lengthy novel. Fans of Beth Revis's Across the Universe (Penguin, 2011) and Ally Condie's Matched (Dutton, 2010) will appreciate Duncan's first dive into the genre.—Amanda C. Buschmann, Atascocita Middle School, Humble, TX