Renegade

Life in underwater Elysium is “just about perfect” for 16-year-old Evelyn, the adopted Daughter of the People, who is being groomed by Mother, the community’s leader, to take over this genetically managed refuge for humanity. Evelyn, like her fellow citizens, has been raised to despise the savage, corrupt Surface Dwellers, but after Surface Dweller Gavin suddenly appears from what’s left of North America, cracks develop in Elysium’s perfection (readers becomes aware of these cracks well before Evelyn does, especially after one of her suitors is murdered in cold blood, and Evelyn remembers nothing afterward). A fervid Romeo-Juliet relationship sparks between Gavin and Evelyn, who tries to outwit Mother in a protracted, violent chase. Debut author Souders addresses antiwar, socioeconomic, and ecological themes in addition to the main issue of adolescent rebellion against crazed authority, but a profusion of coincidences and inconsistencies (Evelyn’s only “true friend” provides critical help on multiple occasions, yet isn’t mentioned until nearly halfway in; nanotechnology and DNA cameras coexist oddly with references to Colt guns and iced soy chai lattes) are jarring. Ages 13–up. Agent: Natalie Fischer Lakosil, Bradford Literary Agency. (Nov.)