The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
A Junior Library Guild Selection
“Surreal, brainy, and totally captivating.” —Booklist (starred review)
“Provocative and moving.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Hutchinson artfully blends the realistic and the surreal.” —School Library Journal (starred review)
From the critically acclaimed author of We Are the Ants and At the Edge of the Universe comes a mind-bending, riveting novel about a teen who was born to a virgin mother and realizes she has the power to heal—but that power comes at a huge cost.
Sixteen-year-old Elena Mendoza is the product of a virgin birth.
This can be scientifically explained (it’s called parthenogenesis), but what can’t be explained is how Elena is able to heal Freddie, the girl she’s had a crush on for years, from a gunshot wound in a Starbucks parking lot. Or why the boy who shot Freddie, David Combs, disappeared from the same parking lot minutes later after getting sucked up into the clouds. Other things that can’t be explained are the talking girl on the front of a tampon box, or the reasons that David Combs shot Freddie in the first place.
As more unbelievable things occur, and Elena continues to perform miracles, the only remaining explanation is the least logical of all—that the world is actually coming to an end, and Elena is possibly the only one who can do something about it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sixteen-year-old Elena Mendoza doesn't have a father hers was a virgin birth (scientifically known as parthenogenesis), and Elena has never stopped feeling like an outsider or freak. Elena also hears voices, and after her crush Winifred (aka Freddie) is shot while Elena is working at Starbucks, the voice (coming from the company's corporate logo) tells Elena to heal her which she does. Caustically funny and irreverent, the voices urge Elena to heal others, but people disappear from the planet every time she does. As he did in At the Edge of the Universe and We Are the Ants, Hutchinson uses an "Is this the end of all things?" premise to create provocative and moving insights into the angst, wonder, and uncertainty of being a teenager. Elena's carefully developed relationships with her supportive best friend Fadil, her ex Javier, the conflicted Freddie, and her family bring additional depth to a thoughtful story about choice and destiny. Ages 14 up.
