Sunday, September 20, 2015

Meet Shari Becker, YA novelist from Canada now living in Boston area (cf ''GRAY SWAN STORMS'')

Shari Becker's "The Stellow Project" is a YA cli-fi thriller that will grab you on page one!

REPPED BY WENDY SCHMALZ AGENCY

http://www.schmalzagency.com/Authors.html


When Two Spouses Want To Follow Their Dreams (a blog post) 
For my 12th birthday, my grandfather in Canada held a check in his hand. He asked what I wanted to be when I grew up.

When I answered, “A writer,” he put the cheque back into his pocket.

“Pick something that makes money,” he said. “What do you really want to be?”

Getting that check depended on my next answer … so I lied. I said psychiatry sounded good.

By college, I’d been told my writing dreams were unrealistic so many times that I stopped imagining the possibility. I went into media production, thinking it would fulfill my creative needs – convincing myself I could be happy facilitating other people’s art. But even in my “glamorous” job at Nickelodeon, in New York City, I just wanted to write.

I persuaded my supervisor to let me tackle writing projects that were supposed to be outsourced. I wrote at lunch and after hours, and the assignments kept coming.......

MORE AT HER BLOG

THE BOOK



Lilah Stellow is in trouble. Pills, inhalers, and surgeries are a part of her life—breathing has always been hard for her, but in the midst of a freak storm in upstate New York, she is stuck at her father’s cabin with her little sister, Flori. Her meds are gone, someone is watching the cabin, and her father has disappeared.
Her breathing abilities deteriorate to the point of causing her to black out; luckily, Daniel, the cute boy from town, appears and spirits her away to his mother’s top-secret research facility. As Lilah recovers, she and Daniel grow closer, but Lilah must get to the bottom of her own mysterious health history, no matter the cost. Readers will connect with the fully fleshed-out characters and will be fascinated by the complex family dynamics that Lilah and Daniel experience. This fast-paced story of bioterrorism, family relationships, trust, and secrets comes with a breathtaking conclusion that screams sequel.
-- Booklist review
Shari Becker's "The Stellow Project" is a YA cli-fi thriller that grabs you from the first page. A teenager, Lilah, her best friend, and her little sister are driving away from a tornado that is threatening New York City. They are on their way to the cabin in the mountains on the instructions of Lilah's father. 
 
They barely miss the tornado and finally make it to the cabin. Lilah is having trouble breathing because she was born with defective lungs, but she has enough medication to last until her father can join them. When he doesn't show up, and a mysterious green car is hanging around their uninhabited country road, things are getting weird. And then Lilah's father tells her to start withdrawing as much money as she can on the ATM card.
 
The first person narrative works well when Lilah begins to uncover inconsistencies in what she has always thought about her parents and what others remember. Even her younger sister argues with Lilah about their mother and her character traits. Is her father a good guy who has been trying to save her life, or is he something much more sinister?
 
The story is well done with lots of twists and turns. It's really hard to stop reading, so pick a time when you can spend hours starting and then finishing this story. It's a fairly quick read, and there's an ending of sorts, but readers will be anxious to know what happens in the next book in the series. 
 
The book has something for everyone. Cli-Fi ans will enjoy some of the climate issues, action fans will love the chase scenes and danger, and romance fans will like her budding relationship with Daniel. The book also deals with the theme of man-made AGW and climate change and asks some provocative questions about our ability to survive what we are facing in the future with a hotter world, more water, and other changes that we are probably not even aware of.
-- Examiner.com


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