Staff Pick
Having lost her mother to suicide when she was young, Glory O'Brien is not sure what life has in store for her post–high school. After drinking the dust of a dead bat, she starts to see people's past and future just by looking at them. These visions give her new insight on matters of family, feminism, and taking action. Glory is a strong character that you can't help but root for. This is young adult at its best. Recommended By Jennifer H., Powells.com
This absorbing read from Printz Honor Author A. S. King is seemingly about a girl who drinks a petrified bat and starts seeing the future (I'm not kidding). At its heart, however, it's about a girl on the cusp of adulthood trying to answer two very important questions: Where do we come from, and where are we going? Recommended By Madeline S., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
In this masterpiece about freedom, feminism, and destiny, Printz Honor author A.S. King tells the epic story of a girl coping with devastating loss at long last — a girl who has no idea that the future needs her, and that the present needs her even more.
Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities — but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she's never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way... until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person's infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions — and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying: A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women's rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she'll do anything to make sure this one doesn't come to pass.
Review
"An indictment of our times with a soupçon of magical realism....Will inspire a new wave of activists." Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Review
"This beautifully strange, entirely memorable book will stay with readers." School Library Journal, starred review
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"A novel full of provocative ideas and sharply observed thoughts about the pressures society places on teenagers, especially girls." Publishers Weekly, starred review
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"King performs an impressive balancing act here, juggling the magic realism of Glory's visions with her starkly realistic struggle....[A] powerful, moving, and compellingly complex coming-of-age story." Booklist, starred review
Review
"You won't be able to put down this futuristic story about a girl who starts having visions of both the past and the future — in which she sees an end to women's rights and a civil war between sexes." Teen Vogue
About the Author
A.S. King is the author of the highly acclaimed Reality Boy; Ask the Passengers, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner; Everybody Sees the Ants; and the Edgar Award nominated, Michael L. Printz Honor book Please Ignore Vera Dietz. She is also the author of The Dust of 100 Dogs, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. When asked about her writing, King says, "Some people don't know if my characters are crazy or if they are experiencing something magical. I think that's an accurate description of how I feel every day." She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and children.