Synopses & Reviews
Review
In this provocative novel Kokie (Personal Effects) takes on the controversial subject of gun ownership in America. Sixteen year old Bex Mullin is obsessed with preparing for what she thinks is an inevitable catastrophe spending as much time as possible honing her survival skills and marksmanship despite her family’s open disapproval of her unfeminine appearance and hobbies. When Bex joins Clearview a group of people with similar interests she finds a measure of acceptance but after she falls for Lucy who wants nothing to do with guns or training Bex struggles to reconcile the different aspects of her life. It all comes to a head when the government takes an interest in Bex and her family and she has to decide what’s more important: protecting herself or relatives who have never supported her. Kokie writes with nuanced sympathy condemning the government’s heavy handed tactics and Bex’s tunnel vision contrasting her need for self sufficiency with her desire to belong and examining gender identity and sexual orientation. It’s a complex recipe of volatile ingredients that Kokie uses to deliver an unsettling story that’s both timely and necessary. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved."
Synopsis
Determined to survive the crisis she's sure is imminent, Bex is at a loss when her world collapses in the one way she hasn't planned for.
Preppers. Survivalists. Bex prefers to think of herself as a realist who plans to survive, but regardless of labels, they're all sure of the same thing: a crisis is coming. And when it does, Bex will be ready. She's planned exactly what to pack, she knows how to handle a gun, and she'll drag her family to safety by force if necessary. When her older brother discovers Clearview, a group that takes survival just as seriously as she does, Bex is intrigued. While outsiders might think they're a delusional doomsday group, she knows there's nothing crazy about being prepared. But Bex isn't prepared for Lucy, who is soft and beautiful and hates guns. As her brother's involvement with some of the members of Clearview grows increasingly alarming and all the pieces of Bex's life become more difficult to juggle, Bex has to figure out where her loyalties really lie. In a gripping new novel, E. M. Kokie questions our assumptions about family, trust, and what it really takes to survive.