Kingdom of Without

In this cyberpunk alternate history dystopia by Tang (Renegade Flight), the Beiyang government took control of Beijing in 1915 and has ruled for 150 years through strict class stratifications offering limited upward mobility. Seventeen-year-old Zhong Ning’er lives in Beijing’s Sixth Ring with her father, who has become dependent on the addictive drugs developed by pharmaceutical company Lilium. Ning’er is barely getting by as a barkeep and must occasionally sell her cybernetic prosthetic arm and leg for cash, until she’s offered a job by the Robin Hood–like Red Yaksha. She’s tasked with infiltrating Lilium and rescuing He Bailing, also known as the Lark, a near-mythical girl who spoke out against government corruption and Lilium’s influence and was presumed dead following a rally gone wrong. Accompanied by explosives specialist Ke Zi’an, medic Ran Feifei, and biohacker Pan Zhenyi, Ning’er finds her motivations changing from getting paid to sparking revolution. With parallels to real-life opioid crises set against a futuristic backdrop, this fast-paced heist balances lofty ideals of change with snappy dialogue and pulse-pounding action. Characters are Chinese. Ages 12–up. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Nov.)