Starbreak

April 28, 2014
In North’s debut, Starglass, 16-year-old Terra was deeply unhappy under the repressive government of the generation starship Asherah and longed to reach the approaching planet Zehava, the colonists’ long-sought new homeland. There she hoped to be united with Vadix, the beautiful alien boy with whom she’d been in telepathic communication (and love) for months. Now that she and some of the other crew members have descended to the planet, everything is going wrong. The monstrous Aleksandra Wolff is also on the planet and wants Terra dead. Worse, the indigenous inhabitants of Zehava are far more alien than Terra expected; although attractive and roughly humanoid, they’re actually sentient plants, some of whom see animals (including humans) primarily as food and are skeptical about the possibility of coexistence. Even Vadix, with his “translucent skin and endless black eyes,” now seems potentially hostile. In this successful sequel, Terra—as thorny, impulsive, and strong-willed as ever—remains a magnetic protagonist, and Vadix’s civilization is nearly as fascinating as the culturally Jewish society of the Asherah. Ages 12–up. Agent: Michelle Andelman, Regal Literary.

Starred review from May 13, 2013
In this gripping dystopian/generation-ship hybrid, the Asherah, centuries into its journey with less than a thousand souls on board, is mere months from making landfall. Its destination is the planet Zehava, where the largely Jewish crew hopes to survive long after the Earth was destroyed by an asteroid strike (one of the starship’s express goals is “the survival of Jewish traditions and culture even in the diaspora of space”). Life aboard is difficult, strictly regulated by the ruling Council and the necessities of scarcity. Fifteen-year-old Terra Fineberg is deeply bitter about her limited choices, both in terms of her profession, which will be chosen for her, and her potential suitors. Then she witnesses a murder and discovers a slogan carved into a tree, “Liberty on Earth. Liberty on Zehava,” and becomes enmeshed in a dangerous conspiracy to overthrow the Council. North eloquently depicts a culture trapped in a cycle of ritual and duty; the colonists’ efforts to preserve their heritage unfold in fascinating, sometimes disturbing ways. This richly textured first novel deserves to be widely read. Ages 12–up. Agent: Michelle Andelman, Regal Literary.

June 1, 2014
A teen's predestined true love is an alien plant-boy, and her refugee spaceship needs to land on his hostile planet.Sixteen-year-old Terra grew up on a generation ship that's traveled for 500 years to reach the planet Zehava and colonize it (Starglass, 2013). But for months, Terra's dreamed of a boy who lives there already, and her dreams are correct: Zehava has inhabitants. Stealing a shuttle and crash-landing on the planet, she learns Zehava's perils: massive carnivores and two intelligent, humanoid species who consider humans to be beasts. As an insecure teen who grows into a leader, Terra's a character with strength and agency. Her romance, however, is all about destiny. Her bashert (true love) is Vadix, a bright blue, bipedal extraterrestrial who's biologically a plant, and their love, which has nothing whatsoever to do with knowing each other, is portrayed as absolute. The purple, overwritten romance ("He said my name...two syllables so ripe they dripped juice down onto the metal ground below") is pure wish-fulfillment: Although he's a widower, Vadix tells Terra, post-sex, "I was fallow until tonight." His body changes color due to her love. Psychic human/extraterrestrial communication tips the genre toward fantasy, but the outer-space setting and quandaries are science fiction.While the refugee issues are deep and Terra's solutions, inventive and wise, this is really for fans of destiny romance. (Science fiction/romance. 12-16)

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August 1, 2014

Gr 10 Up-The Asherah, a spaceship that left Earth 500 years ago in search of an alternate planet, has finally landed on Zehava. Seventeen-year-old Terra and her friends must put aside their animosity toward rebel leader Aleksandra Wolff to contend against a new enemy: their dangerous alien hosts. This second book brings the romantic, scifi duology to a satisfying close.

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