Pacifica

A post-apocalyptic American wasteland is the backdrop for this romantic adventure from Simmons (Metaltown). Seventeen-year-old Marin was raised to be a corsario, a pirate. As an exile from her home, Marin puts her skills to use scrounging and creating a drug called tar in the harsh barter economy as she plans a way to earn her a place back in the seafaring lifestyle. Enter Ross Torres, the president's son. A chance meeting, during a riot protesting the government's relocation of some 500 of Noram's poorest citizens, unites the pair. The world-changing government program, designed to give Noram's citizens a new start in a tropical paradise called Pacifica, leaves Marin and others skeptical: is Pacifica really the advertised haven, or is the government disguising something sinister? Throughout her epic story, Simmons explores themes of political corruption, wealth disparity, and the question of whether socio-economic status and happiness are intertwined. Detailed world-building transforms a fictional world into something much more realistic and terrifyingly possible. Ages 14-up. Agent: Joanna MacKenzie, Nelson Literary Agency. (Mar.)