- Description
- Praise
- About the Author
- Reader Reviews
Remarkable dystopian fiction told in the sharp voice of a heroine with a chip on her shoulder
Will Valentina survive the Badlands?
Valentina, the President’s daughter, leads a privileged life in the Citadel. At the age of 14, she has never been outside of the green zone and knows little of the Badlands or the world beyond. Refugees from all over the world have fled fire and floods to escape to Ireland, but the original Tribe despise their presence, and violence rages throughout the country.
Desperate to see her older brother, a soldier with the pro-refugee group Solidarity, Valentina plans an undercover trip to the Amber Zone with her friends Pippa and Damien and government official Joshua. The experience is shocking for Valentina as she witnesses the lives of the refugees and their families. When their journey is intercepted by a military group, Val and Pippa are kidnapped and must try to escape before Val’s identity is discovered.
"McDermott skilfully links his speculative vision of a possible future with intriguing echoes of the country's history and, in the process, gives us a novel ambitious in its scope and impressive in its attainment." – Irish Times
"This caustic and profane teenager lives in our imagination, much as does Princess Mia in Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries. This is the work of an author playing adroitly to his strengths." – Books for Keeps
Description
Remarkable dystopian fiction told in the sharp voice of a heroine with a chip on her shoulder
Will Valentina survive the Badlands?
Valentina, the President’s daughter, leads a privileged life in the Citadel. At the age of 14, she has never been outside of the green zone and knows little of the Badlands or the world beyond. Refugees from all over the world have fled fire and floods to escape to Ireland, but the original Tribe despise their presence, and violence rages throughout the country.
Desperate to see her older brother, a soldier with the pro-refugee group Solidarity, Valentina plans an undercover trip to the Amber Zone with her friends Pippa and Damien and government official Joshua. The experience is shocking for Valentina as she witnesses the lives of the refugees and their families. When their journey is intercepted by a military group, Val and Pippa are kidnapped and must try to escape before Val’s identity is discovered.
Praise
"McDermott skilfully links his speculative vision of a possible future with intriguing echoes of the country's history and, in the process, gives us a novel ambitious in its scope and impressive in its attainment." – Irish Times
"This caustic and profane teenager lives in our imagination, much as does Princess Mia in Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries. This is the work of an author playing adroitly to his strengths." – Books for Keeps
