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Love in the Time of Global Warning | June 18, 2014

by Francesca Lia Block (Henry Holt/Macmillan Children’s Publishing, 2013)

Penelope lost everything in the Earth Shaker, and post-apocolyptic Los Angeles is now populated by giants, sirens, and a handful of human survivors. With the distant hope that her family is still alive, Pen roams her decimated city, picking up companions along the way. Unconventional romances blossom among the wanderers as they search for meaning in a world where everything that once seemed meaningful has been destroyed.

Francesca Lia Block’s latest is inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, which will give you an idea of how epic this novel is. Without adhering too closely to the classic, Block uses it as a guide that grounds the narrative in the familiar while the characters and reader walk through a refreshingly original dystopian landscape. The romantic relationships—none of which are traditional, heterosexual pairings—are as compelling as the journey plot, and one prominent character is transgender, a rarity in YA literature. An uncommon world, a thrilling adventure, fiery love stories . . . This is one of those novels that has it all.

 

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