YA Crime Thrillers - Firekeeper's Daughter, The Project, and Pride and Premeditation

 Mysteries, arguably the most popular genre, take many different forms. From the detective novel to the romantic thriller, suspense-filled mysteries keep readers anxiously turning pages to solve the puzzle. This month I am recommending three wildly different thrillers encompassed by this genre.  Firekeeper's Daughter, a debut novel by Angeline Boulley, is a Native American crime thriller focusing on an FBI investigation into meth overdoses in an Anishinaabe community. The Project by Courtney Summers (Sadie) is a psychological thriller, in which Lo, a young woman who works for an investigative magazine, examines a cult that her sister disappeared into after their parents' deaths in a devastating car accident. Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price is a reimagining of the Jane Austen favorite as a murder mystery. 

Firekeepers' Daughter introduces Daunis Fontaine, an 18-year-old native American hockey player, who struggles to reconcile her Anishinaabe father's culture with her white mother's relatives' prejudice.  Although she loves her tribal community, she is denied official citizenship in the Sault tribe due to her mixed parentage.  Her plans to head off to college to pursue a medical degree are put on hold when her uncle overdoses on meth and her grandmother has a stroke.  As meth related deaths continue to mount, Daunis is recruited by the FBI to work undercover to investigate a deadly new form of meth being distributed in the community. Using her knowledge of chemistry and traditional plants, she partners with Jamie, an agent posing as a hockey player new to her brother Levi's team, to source the drug and discover its dealers. The author, an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, shares key teachings from her culture, including Ojibwe language and a look at the corruption that has led to the meth plague on reservations across the country.  This compelling look at Native American culture woven into a complex criminal investigation is not to be missed!

In The Project Lo Denham is involved in a car accident that killed her parents and leaves her near death.  Her sister Bea prays for a miracle and when Lev Warren, the supposedly divine leader of a cult known as The Unity Project intervenes with a "healing," Lo survives. Bea,  overwhelmingly grateful, joins the cult and disappears from Lo's life. While working for an investigative magazine, Lo witnesses the suicide of one of the cult's members. She begins investigating the cult, hoping to discredit it and reconnect with her sister. However, Lo, who is granted an exclusive interview with Lev Warren, finds her sister is no longer a member, and she is slowly lured into joining the cult herself.  The story moves back and forth in time with Lo narrating the present and Bea flashbacks from her past. Suspense builds as subtle clues about what really happened are revealed, until the horrifying truth is unveiled.  This gripping psychological thriller focuses on what happens when downtrodden and vulnerable people, who are searching for identity and belonging, are preyed upon by opportunistic groups offering healing and salvation.

Pride and Premeditation, the first book in a trilogy which reworks Jane Austen novels as murder mysteries, finds Lizzy Bennet aspiring to a position in her father's law firm.  When the head of a local shipping firm, Charles Bingley, is accused of murdering his brother-in-law, Lizzy attempts to prove him innocent to prove herself to her father.  Although his best friend Fitzwilliam Darcy is Bingley's lawyer, Lizzy searches London for clues and they end up working together to free Bingley and find the real killer. This Regency era mystery will especially delight Jane Austen fans.  The extensive cast of original characters appear in differing roles but still retain their personalities. For instance, Collins is set to inherit the law firm, but is woefully inept as a lawyer, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh is a powerful woman but has devious ties to the shipping world.  In an author's note Price discusses being inspired by Austen and Agatha Christie and acknowledge the liberties she has taken with class and gender roles.  This imaginative suspenseful adaptation will appeal to both murder mystery and Austen fans alike.  It comes out April 6, 2021.

YA Novels Reimagine Romeo and Juliet

 Every year I recommend books with "Classic Connections," which reimagine classic literature, but with a twist.  One of the most recognizable plots is that of Romeo and Juliet, in which two young people from quarreling families fall in love.  Three new YA novels incorporate this element in very unique ways.  Roman and Jewel by Dana L. Davis sets the romance on Broadway in a hip-hop production of the bard's classic.  A Pho Love Story by Loan Le involves two Japanese American teens whose parents own competing Pho restaurants. These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong is set in Shanghai during the 1920s during the Opium Wars and the rise of communism.  All three vary from the original in settings and adherence to the plot, but the family disapproval of the central romance is a constant. 

Roman and Jewel introduces African American Jerzie Jhames who has studied music all her life and loves all things Broadway.  When she is cast as the understudy to R&B superstar Cinny in a new Broadway hip-hop retelling of Romeo and Juliet, she resigns herself to the backup position, despite feeling she is a better fit for the part.  Then she literally runs into Zeppelin Reid, an Italian American musician/model who is cast as Roman, and it is love at first sight.  Diva Cinny is a frequent no-show for rehearsals, so Jerzie gets to sing with Zepp and an unauthorized video of a romantic scene, where Jerzie outperforms Cinny, goes viral.  Cinny is furious and attempts to sabotage Zepp and Jerzie's relationship. Jerzie must struggle to navigate fame, first love, and her ambitions for the future. The love story mirrors Romeo and Juliet's in several ways, including Jerzie's parents forbidding her romantic involvement with Zepp, his coming to her balcony to woo her, and a character attempting suicide. References to Broadway musicals and details about music composition are a bonus in this delightful romantic retelling. 

Told in alternating first person chapters, A Pho Love Story is a modern day retelling involving two Japanese American teens, whose feuding parents own competing Pho restaurants. Bao considers himself to be the king of mediocrity, whereas Linh shines as a student and artist. Both work in their parents' businesses and strive for parental approval.  When they pair up to write restaurant reviews for their school newspaper, they must meet in secret to avoid family conflict.  Bao finds a passion for writing and Linh's illustrations capture the eye of a restaurant owner who commissions her to paint a mural. Unfortunately, her parents disapprove of her pursuing an art career, so she surreptitiously sneaks away to meet Bao and work on the mural. As their romance heats up, they realize their families are hiding something from the past that is the true reason for the feud.  The food references and the Vietnamese language interspersed throughout the book add authenticity to this charming romance involving love and loss, parental expectations and self-discovery.

Shanghai in the 1920s is the setting for These Violent Delights, the first book in a duology that reimagines Romeo and Juliet during the Opium Wars and the rise of communism.  Rival factions, the Chinese Scarlet Gang and the Russian White Flowers, battle for control of the city while a disease spreading monster lurks in the Huangpu River. Four years before the story begins, the next White Flower leader Roma Montagov and Scarlet Gang heir Juliette Cai were lovers.  His unexplained betrayal of Juliette makes them enemies, and she moves to New York for an education.  When she returns, there is a sickness spreading throughout the city that causes the infected to claw their own necks open.  Then Roma's sister Alisa is infected, and he teams up with Juliette to find the cause and the cure. The romance in this book is secondary to the intriguing mystery filled with historical detail. Although there are many recognizable characters in this tale of family loyalty and identity, the added elements of the mysterious plague and political intrigue overshadow the relationship between Roma and Juliette. In the sequel Our Violent Ends, coming out in November 2021, Juliette has sacrificed her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud.  Roma is seeking revenge against Juliette for crime she didn't commit.  However, once again a monstrous danger threatens the city and they must cooperate to put an end to it once and for all. These Violent Delights and its sequel comprise a critically acclaimed historical fantasy that is not to be missed. 

Blue Spruce Award winner

 The Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult book award has been facilitating teen nominations and selection of teens' favorite books since 1985. This is the last year for the award in its present iteration, however, another group may be creating a similar teen book award in the near future.  This year's winner, Allies by Alan Gratz, is a fictionalized account of D-Day, which weaves together individual experiences from six different operations in settings across Europe.  The narrative covers a sea invasion, French citizens and Resistance Fighters on land, and soldiers arriving by air, but focuses repeatedly on Dee, a German fighting on the American side and hiding his identity from his best friend Sid, a Jewish American soldier. The account is historically accurate, but covers a very diverse cast of main characters.  In the end all the stories come together showing that it took a great deal of cooperation to defeat the Nazis in WWII.  Gratz has a new novel coming out this month, Ground Zero which is a dual tale taking place at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and in battle torn Afghanistan on September 11, 2019. 

This month I am going to review new books by three past winners of the Blue Spruce Award. Neal Shusterman won the 2019 award for Scythe, the first book in a series about controlling population in a futuristic society where death by natural causes has been eliminated.  His new book Game Changer, is set in the multiverse and takes on issues of racism, classism, misogyny and homophobia. Angie Thomas was the 2018 winner for The Hate You Give, which is about the fatal shooting of a black teen by a police officer. She published On the Come Up about an aspiring female rapper in 2019. Marissa Meyer was the 2015 winner for Cinder, the first in the Lunar Chronicles series that reimagines Cinderella as a cyborg. She has written a new book about a girl who has the ability to surreptitiously punish wrong doers in Instant Karma.

Game Changer, set in the multiverse, introduces linebacker  Ash Bowman, who gets thrown into a new world every time he suffers a hard tackle. As he travels though various "Elsewheres," he experiences segregation, being gay, being female and various levels of family wealth.  He is the "chosen one," navigating different realities, trying to change things for the better with each shift. His relationships with his family (mom, brother and professional football player father), the team quarterback and the girlfriend he abuses, his black best friend and his sister and Ash's gay math tutor, serve as foils for his exploration of racism, homophobia, misogyny and classism.  Ash's changes in perspective prompt him to develop a greater sense of empathy and urgency regarding the suffering of others.  As I said in my August blog, the multiverse is a popular topic in new YA novels, and Shusterman's new novel is a strong addition to the lexicon.

In On the Come Up Bri is aspiring rapper who is following in her late father's footsteps. She records "On the Come Up" to protest the assault she endured at the hands of white security guards at her high school and the racial profiling that goes on there.  The song goes viral, and Bri hopes to get a recording contract and help lift her family out of poverty, but her mother and brother worry.  The song espouses violence which really isn't who Bri is, and some listeners paint her as a violence inciting black girl. Tension mounts as Bri's mother loses her job, and Bri's beloved aunt and  musical mentor goes to jail for dealing drugs.  Her late father's manager promises fame and wealth - at a price.  She must agree to sing songs she hasn't written that promote the idea that she is a tough girl from the hood.  Bri must decide if she wants to sell her identity for success. Her thoughts and lyrics permeate the narrative, speaking truth to power. Angie Thomas, who was an aspiring rapper herself, paints a vivid picture of the challenges kids face when trying to escape a life of poverty and oppression. Thomas's latest book Concrete Rose which came out January 12th is a prequel to The Hate You Give. It tells the story of Maverick Carter, Starr's father, as he navigates fatherhood, gang life and family loyalty.

In Instant Karma judgmental overachiever Prudence Daniels finds herself with the ability to cast instant karma on people around her.  She is thrilled to punish everyone from vandals to mean girls, but the one person she can't seem to impact is her slacker lab partner Quint Erickson.  Hoping to get a redo on their joint lab project on which they received a C, she agrees to volunteer at the rescue center for local sea animals, where he works.  As she begins to uncover the truth about environmental hazards, she also discovers Quint is more noble than she ever imagined. The punishments continually backfire on her, and Pru slowly realizes that good and bad are not so clear. This enemies to lovers rom com is a fun beach read, with the bonus of a informative look at animal rescue centers. 

Notable YA books for 2020

The new edition of my book, What's New in Young Adult Novels? and Ideas for Classroom Use is now available on Lulu.com. at https://tinyurl.com/whatsnewya2020 . As we say goodbye to 2020, I would like to recommend several books I didn't review during the calendar year.  Dig by A.S. King, the new Michael Printz Award winner, is a surrealistic story about five unknowingly connected teens, who struggle with family dysfunction. Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam is a novel-in-verse about a black teenage poet in prison for beating a white youth and leaving him in a coma. We Are Not Free, a critically acclaimed novel by Traci Chee, is about 14 Japanese American Teens in internment camps during WWII. Finally, Rebel Spy, a historical novel by Veronica Rossi, is a reimagining of the story of Agent 355, a New York society girl who was a spy for George Washington. 

Dig introduces five estranged cousins, whose dysfunctional family includes wealthy grandparents Marla and Gottfried Hemmings, who have left their 5 children and teenage grandchildren to flounder in various state of illness and poverty.  David-The Shoveler, Katie-CanIHelpYou?, Loretta-Flea Circus Ring Mistress, First-Class Malcom, and the Freak are brought together by tragedy. Trauma and abuse cause the teens to find security in their self-defined roles. David, who frequently moves with his mother, carries a snow shovel to protect himself from bullies, Katie works at Arby's where she deals drugs from the drive-through window.  Loretta finds solace in a family of fleas she carries in a lunchbox, as she struggles with her violent father's abuse.  Malcom takes frequent first-class flights to Jamaica with his widower father, who is batting cancer.  The Freak appears supernaturally between locations, checking in on her cousins and trying to help.  The narrative deals with the issues of racism, white power and privilege and class as the teens' stories are revealed and come together.  Can this generation of Hemmings dig its way out of the toxic environment that their grandparents created?

In Punching the Air sixteen-year-old African American Amal is convicted of violence against a white teen, who is in a coma as a result.  Amal, an aspiring poet and artist is sent to prison, protesting his innocence. In speaking of testimony against him, he says, their words are "like a scalpel/shaping me into/the monster/they want me to be."  While in prison, he experiences the worst of prison life, complete with abuse from guards and fellow prisoners.  Working on his GED, he finds a way to express himself through a poetry class and painting murals on the prison walls. The first-person narration allows the reader to experience his anguish, as he waits for his alleged victim to regain consciousness and hopefully set him free. In an author's note Zoboi details her connection with Salaam, who was a member of the "Central Park Five," now known as the "Exonerated Five."

We Are Not Free chronicles the lives of fourteen young Japanese Americans during WWII in this semi-autobiographical story about the incarceration of families in internment camps.  Teens who have grown up together in San Francisco's Japantown are taken to Topaz Internment Camp in Utah, where they experience harsh conditions and injustices.  When they are forced to enlist and/or swear allegiance to the US, those that refuse, the "no-nos," are taken to Tule Lake Camp.  Between 1942 and 1945 the families that pass a background check are allowed to relocate.  The stories are told in varying styles, including first and second person, verse and letters.  Historical photographs and documents add to the text.

Rebel Spy is the reimagining of the story of a New York society girl, Agent 355, who was a spy for George Washing during the Revolutionary War.  Frannie Tasker, who lives with her abusive stepfather on Grand Bahama Island escapes when a shipwreck presents her with the opportunity to assume the identity of a young woman floating in the sea. She dons the woman's clothes and is rescued by a British merchant ship that heads for New York. She meets Asa Lane,  a dashing young patriot who lends her Thomas Paine's Common Sense and teaches her to act like a lady, before he is press-ganged into His Majesty's navy. When she gets to NYC she poses as Emmeline and is swept into a world of wealth and luxury.  For three years Frannie lives as Emmeline Coates and is courted by a British lieutenant.  Access to some of the crown's highest officers gives her the opportunity to provide valuable information to Washington's Culper spy network. She believes in the fight for American liberty and risks her life to aid the revolutionaries. Part swashbuckling adventure, part romance, this is a riveting read.  

High School Seniors plan for the future: Admission, Charming a a Verb, and Today, Tonight, Tomorrow

Senior year is fraught with drama and much of it stems from making a decision about one's future.  As December early decision announcements approach, students who applied are anxiously awaiting answers from their college of choice. Others are second guessing their decisions or still struggling with applications that will soon be due. Parents' expectations and dreams also play into the anxieties students experience. Three new young adult novels explore some of the issues students face in this dog-eat-dog world of competing for available college space.  Julie Buxbaum's Admission focuses on what parents will do to advance their children's opportunities.  Ben Phillipe's Charming as a Verb examines a young man's temptations in trying to get an advantage in being accepted by his "reach" school.  In Rachel Lynn Solomon's Today, Tonight, Tomorrow, two students who have been rivals throughout high school compete for one last accolade. 

The college admission scandal that rocked the country is the subject of Buxbaum's latest novel Admission. Chloe Wynn Berringer, daughter of a Hollywood celebrity, has been accepted at the college of her dreams, even though she's pretty sure she doesn't qualify.  Then the FBI comes to arrest her mother for tampering with the admissions process and the nightmare begins.  Will Chloe be arrested as well?  What did she know and when did she know it? Is she complicit in her mother's crime? As Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman head off to prison as the result of an investigation known as Operation Varsity Blues, it is interesting to read a similar fictional story told from the student's point of view. Not wanting to disappoint her mother, Chloe willing participates in some questionable activities in the quest to get into the college of her mother's dreams. Is she guilty as well?

In Charming as a Verb a student once again struggles to please a parent.  Henri Haltiwanger, a charismatic first-generation Haitian American teen, has a dog-walking business that is self-run, even though he pretends to be working for "Uptown Updogs."  When Corinne, an awkward high-achieving African American classmate and client, discovers his secret, he agrees to help her socially in exchange for her discretion.  As they spend time together, an attraction grows. Henri, who aspires to go to Columbia to please his father, secretly hopes Corinne's  mother, a dean at Columbia, will help him get in.  Henri will do anything to achieve his father's dream, even though he's beginning to think it's not right for him. He steps over the line, taking a risk that may cost him everything, including the girl he's fallen for. 

Today, Tonight, Tomorrow introduces Rowan Roth and Neil McNair, who have been overachieving rivals throughout high school.  Rowan frequently loses out to Neil and she thinks she can't wait to go to college and get away from him.  When he is named valedictorian, she figures she has only one more opportunity to best him.  She is determined to win "Howl," a scavenger hunt for the senior class that takes the students all over Seattle.  When Rowan and Neil find out a group of seniors is out to defeat them, they team up so that they will be the last two players in the competition.  But as they cooperate to solve the clues, Rowan finds out she and Neil have a lot in common and he might just have a place in her future.  Will it change her decision about where she goes to college? As she begins second guessing her choices and weighing the pros and cons of the schools that have accepted her, Neil becomes a factor she never expected to consider. 

New YA Mysteries - The Inheritance Games, The Cousins, and Girl Unframed

 Mysteries and suspense novels are arguably the most popular genre in fiction. Not all suspense novels are mysteries but all mysteries include suspense. Analyzing the author's use of classic mystery elements, including suspense, can help students understand why mysteries are such page turners.  Three of my favorite authors have recently published new mysteries.  Jennifer Lynn Barnes' (The Naturals) new mystery series The Inheritance Games introduces a main character who inexplicably has been named the heir to a billionaire's fortune when he has two daughters and four grandsons who expected to inherit his wealth. Karen McManus (One of Us is Lying) explores the inheritance theme as well with The Cousins.  A wealthy resort owner disinherits her four children and then invites their children to work at the resort for the summer.  In addition to getting to know each other, the cousins must get to the bottom of why they were invited.  Finally, Deb Caletti's (The Fortunes of Indigo Sky) Girl Unframed finds a Seattle teen spending the summer with her film star mother when a murder occurs in her own backyard. 

The Inheritance Games series opener introduces Avery Grambs, who is living in her car, after her half-sister and legal guardian Libby allows her abusive boyfriend to move into their apartment.  When she is summoned to the will reading of billionaire Tobias Hawthorne, she and Libby travel to Texas where they are shocked to find out Avery has inherited the bulk of his fortune, but to receive it, she must live at Hawthorne House for a year. His family, including two daughters and four grandsons, is furious.  Puzzle obsessed, Tobias leaves letters outlining a riddle that Avery and the grandsons must solve to find out why she is the recipient of the inheritance.  The Hawthorne House mansion is filled with hidden chambers that house the clues she and the grandsons must find to unravel the puzzle.  Fast paced chapters filled with red herrings, family secrets, attempted murder and a little bit of romance will keep readers enthralled. The satisfying ending sets up another mystery to be solved in the sequel.

The luxurious Gull Cove Island resort off the coast of Massachusetts, which is the setting for The Cousins, contains many Story family secrets.  In the 1990s the widow Mildred Story disinherited her four children without explanation, except for a letter send by her lawyer that read "You know what you did."  Twenty years later her grandchildren, Milly Aubrey and Jonah, receive letters from her, inviting them to work at the resort.  Their parents, hoping to get back into their mother's will, force them to go.  However, upon their arrival at Gull Cove Island, they find their grandmother displeased to see them. She obviously had not invited them.  They settle into their jobs and getting to know each other, and try to uncover who invited them and why.  There are many twists and turns, as family secrets are revealed, making this a fun read for McManus fans.

In Girl Unframed Seattle teen Sydney Reilly is spending the summer in San Francisco with her film star mother, Lila Shore, and Lila's boyfriend Jake in a Pacific Heights mansion.  Jake is an art dealer with shady connections and his volatile relationship with Lila is unsettling.  Syd not only feels uncomfortable around Jake, a construction worker next door is also giving her unwanted attention.  The only bright spot in her summer is her new relationship with Nicco Ricci, a local boy she met on the beach.  When a murder occurs on the beach in her own backyard, her summer is derailed.  Each chapter begins with a list of exhibits from the murder trial creating suspense as to who was murdered by whom. 

YA Dystopian Novels - Skyhunter, The Other Side of the Sky, and Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira

 It's been quite awhile since I've read much dystopian young adult literature, but I have recently renewed my interest in it.  Dystopian refers to an imagined society in the future where there is great suffering or injustice.  Dystopian novels generally include themes involving morality, violence, lack of free will, lack of freedom, and/or government control.  Many adolescents can relate to these themes and in reading dystopian novels find hope that they too can make the world a better place like the characters do in the novels. Marie Lu's Skyhunter is set in a post apocalyptic world where Mara, the only free nation in the world, is fighting against the Karensa Federation to maintain its freedom. In The Other Side of the Sky by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner society is composed of two worlds: the primitive surface Below which has lost all advanced technology and is plagued by dangerous mists and the Cloudlands, a technologically engineered world in the sky founded by scientists who escaped from Below. Finally, Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira by Lou Diamond Phillips introduces a planet split in two after the Great Schism. When the remnants are finally deemed habitable, war breaks out between the two resettled colonies. 

Skyhunter, the first book in a new dystopian series, introduces Talin Kanami, a refugee turned soldier in war torn Mara, which is defending itself against the Karensa Federation. Her elite squadron of "strikers" battle the Federation's Ghosts, zombie-like monsters whose bites inflict transformation. When Talin protests the execution of a Federation defector, Redlen Arabes, her commander insists that she take Red as her fighting partner or shield.  As Talin gets to know Red, she finds out he is a Skyhunter, a half-man half-machine weapon created by the Federation.  Before the Federation can engineer his loyalty, like they have the Ghosts, he escapes, and becomes Mara's best hope for finding a way to defeat them.  After a plan to destabilize the Federation backfires, Talin, Red, and their fellow strikers are at the mercy of the enemy.  The first-person narration by Talin, who is mute, is facilitated by her signing and bonding with Red, who then communicates with her telepathically.  This action-packed thriller explores the ideas of immigration and imperialism and its ending will leave readers clamoring for the sequel.

The Other Side of the Sky, the first book in a new duology, is set in a post apocalyptic society composed of two worlds.  The Aciel archipelago known as the Cloudlands, was launched from the Surface Below into the sky, where enigmatic engines keep it aloft.  North, the heir to the throne, pilots a glider which crashes to the Surface after being sabotaged.  He is shocked to find there are people still living Below.  Nimh is their Divine Goddess.  She seeks guidance from ancient prophecies that predict the Last Star will fall, delivering the Lightbringer to save their world, which is ravaged by mist storms that leave people insane. When a prophetic dream, leads her to the site where North lands, she is sure he is her destiny.  Whereas his world is filled with science and technology, hers depends on superstition and magic.  It is forbidden for anyone to touch the Divine Goddess.  Nimh was chosen after the former goddess Jezara was banished when she fell in love and became pregnant.  As Nimh waits for her powers to manifest, she is threatened by Jezara's daughter, who claims she is the true Goddess.  The story is told from alternating perspectives, following North and Nimh's growing affection and the conflict they feel about the future. The cliffhanger ending sets up the sequel with readers hoping the two can bring together their two worlds.

I chose to read Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira primarily because the author is Lou Diamond Phillips ( La Bamba, Longmire and Prodigal Son) and ended up loving this retelling of Hans Christian Anderson's story set in space.  After the Great Schism splits a planet into two, war breaks out in the resettled colonies known as Mano and Indira. There is a prophecy that Princess Allegra, the daughter of Mano's king Xander the Firm, will marry a common soldier and end the king's reign.  He does everything he can to thwart the prophecy, including imprisoning Allegra.  Meanwhile, Everson, the prince from Indira, poses as a common soldier and gets stranded on Mano in a failed military operation.  He gets duped into retrieving ancient technology known as the Tinderbox.  Many young men have died trying to retrieve it, but Everson was clearly meant to be the one who succeeds. He is being used by traitors who are trying to overthrow Mano's king.  The Tinderbox allows him to communicate with Allegra, and although their people are at odds, they are immediately attracted to each other.  Their forbidden love could be the key to end the war and reunite their worlds.