"If you're looking for terrific reads to buy with your Christmas money, then here we go...Lori Ann Stephens pulls no punches and it's an uncompromising look at the way in whihc America operates today,"
"Prepare for socks to be well and truly knocked off long before reaching the end of this explosive novel. Set in a gun-toting future Texas that has broken away from the rest of the USA, this dystopian vision often feels too uncomfortably close to the current real thing. Carrying a weapon is compulsory for all ages, with teachers facing down recalcitrant junior pupils with the threat of superior fire power. The closely guarded wall that separates this toxic state from a saner America is patrolled by volunteer vigilantes taking pot-shots at would-be escapees, otherwise known as ‘scalers’.
Lori Ann Stephens is an award-winning American author who has now brought her talents to the Young Adult literary market. She writes urgently and well, keeping up the pace while never descending to horror for its own sake. She is also unafraid of potential critics who might object for her having Jet opting for an abortion to rid herself of a baby she never planned for or wanted. The author’s implied criticisms of adult ignorance, prejudice and dishonesty at a political as well as personal level never let up. If there is one teenage novel this year that readers will surely never forget, it must be this one."
"Brilliant"
Imagine a world where everyone wears a gun, by law, even children. This is the everyday life for 14-year-old Bluebonnet Andrews, living in the independent Republic of Texas. Her father is the deputy, but he is also an alcoholic, a reality Blue deals with all by herself. She has not seen or heard from her mother since she was a young child.
In typical teenage style, Blue is starting to question her life and the society she lives in and abides by. A tragic accident which leaves her former best friend dead from a shot fired by Blue's gun sees her in jail, where a chance encounter with another suspected felon, Jet, proves fortuitous. Blue decides the best she can do is go on the run with the aim of leaving Texas - a crime punishable by death.
As she sets out, she encounters Jet - now also on the run and trying to exit Texas - and the two girls set out on a thrilling but fraught journey together. With frequent threats from Mother, the marauding motorbike gang and extensive corruption within the legal departments trying to track them down, there are a lot of tense moments throughout the book. It contains some graphic violence and resultant injury.
This is a hauntingly well written novel; Lori Ann Stephens has an individual style which makes it a compulsive read. It is most definitely an older reader's book with topics such as gun control, abortion, rape and LGBT, but fundamentally women's rights woven throughout.
334 pages / Reviewed by Sharon Bolton, school librarian
Suggested Reading Age 14+
A "best new science fiction" pick
December's YA "Book of the Month"
"Gripping"
Radio interview with Sarah Gorrell.
Have you ever wanted to tell a story, but been too scared to write it? Lori Ann Stephens’ near-future thriller Blue Running covers a whole range of contentious topics, but Lori tells us how she overcame such a fear to tell her story, how she had dealt with the reactions of readers and her own family, and why she thinks the best writing comes from fear.
In this episode you will discover:
- Writing about what you fear and how to cope with it.
- Finding empathy when writing about those we find objectionable.
