Secret of the Seeds

Gr 10 Up—A timely conspiracy thriller, this novel has a slow start but picks up quickly. Set sometime in modern (or possibly a near future) America, this debut work focuses on 17-year-old Ceres, who leaves the city to go live with her aunt and uncle after the death of her parents. She finds farm life difficult but is not afraid of hard work. Ceres is, however, afraid of her surly, unpleasant, and often drunk Uncle Cane. He firmly believes that women belong in the house (or garden), but not in the field. Her Aunt Aster is quickly fading and on her deathbed gives Ceres some brightly colored heirloom corn kernels. When planting one of the kernels brings the feared Foundation (a large corporation specializing in scientific exploration of genetically modified organisms [GMOs] and pesticides) to their door, Ceres and her unlikely friend, the farmhand Bry, become fugitives. Amid the complicated intrigue of big biotech business control, GMOs, and dangerous pesticides, Ceres searches for a way out. She finds good people and faith when most would have lost hope. The characters are well developed, and teens will easily become invested in them. Occasionally, the language is stilted and inconsistent, but the plot is so unique that it is easy to overlook flaws.