Gunslinger Girl

December 18, 2017
After a second Civil War, 17-year-old Serendipity “Pity” Jones is little more than a punching bag and indentured servant to her father in the new west. A botched attempt to run away leads her to the city of Cessation, where she performs like a dystopian Annie Oakley, using the sharpshooter skills she inherited from her mother to earn herself a place in the show. Pity’s naiveté makes her an easy target in the glitzy community of Casimir, but her transformation from farm girl to willing killer, interspersed with her guilt over her best friend’s death and her romance with new acquaintance Max, is a bit rapid. Debut author Ely keeps Pity’s hands implausibly clean amid the sex, drugs, and debauchery of her environment, and although the lawless world Ely has created is rife with possibilities, the supporting characters, though colorful, are largely flat. For a gunslinger, Pity spends little time acting for her own sake, and her mere survival, let alone victory, under such circumstances comes across as similarly unlikely. Ages 15–up. Agent: Laura Zats, Red Sofa Literary.