Under This Forgetful Sky

                                                        

First of all, do not be misled by the YA label and the teenage protagonists. This is an important book with an important message for all ages. But it may just be that it is most needful that the young take the message to heart and act on it. Because this is the messed-up world they are inheriting.

The story is set in the not-so-distant future, after the Hot Wars, which left much of the world in wreckage, poisoned by radiation and industrial pollution, and subject to violent terrorist attacks. The ruling classes have retreated to walled cities--Upper Cities-- where life is privileged and safe, where, by mandate, citizens wear 'specs' that monitor their every move as well as showing an alternate, colorful view, an overlay, of their grim surroundings. (Shades of the Emerald City!)

 Sixteen-year-old Rumi Sabzwari lives in St. Iago, an Upper City of post-Apocalypse Chile. His world is upended when his father falls ill with a deadly virus, evidently the work of a rebel group called Las Oscuras. Rumi finds a mysterious map that promises to guide him to the source of a cure. But to find it, he must leave the safety of the city, face the unknown, and cross the poisoned Wastes.

Fifteen-year-old Paz is a child of the world beyond the walls, a world that has been poisoned and drained of resources by the Upper Cities. From her home in ruined Paraiso, she ventures into the Wastes on a scavenging expedition.

When both Paz and Rumi are captured by Las Oscuras and then escape, they form an uneasy alliance that is tested by danger and by doubt at every turn. Who is the real enemy is the question that occurs again and again. In a world of misinformation, who can you trust?

Yero weaves a beautiful web--part road trip, part quest, part romance and coming of age, part edge of your seat adventure. Her prose is stunning-- a girl who "slung daggers when she walked" and "held a room captive with her collarbones." The people and communities encountered on the quest are vivid and sympathetic. And the picture of the divided world, the divided peoples, rings all too true.

In her afterword, Yero talks about her travels in Chile and her awakening to the 'slow violence' done by multinational corporations to lands not their own.  How, she asks, do we tell these complex stories that happened over long periods of time, doing damage so slowly that it was virtually imperceptible? "How do we make visible the web of the world?"

Like all good fiction, that is exactly what this fine book does.

Very highly recommended.

American Judas by Mickey Dubrow

It can’t happen here – or is it?

Ten years after the CHRIST (Christian Households Rising in Support of Truth) Act became law, the USA is at last what the Religious Right has dreamed of – a Christian Nation. The National Church of Christ is the state religion – all others are forbidden and church attendance is mandatory. 

The stars of the flag have been replaced by a cross and NPR in now NCR. (You can guess what the C stands for.) Everyone carries guns – not to do so would look suspicious. Alcohol, pornography, birth control, abortion, homosexuality are all criminalized. 

State-run Savior Camps, with Arbeit Macht Frei Saved Though Faith over the entrance and complete with barbed wire and armed guards, “are not just for lapsed Christians and those afflicted with the disease of homosexuality. They also cure drug addicts, adulterers, Satan worshippers, and Liberals.”

Seth Ginsburg, a non-observant Jew, has converted and pays lip service to the state religion in order to hold on to his job in the office of a US senator. When he receives a package containing his late father’s prayer shawl, he finds himself compelled to reclaim his heritage and join a group of Jews in their hidden worship. 

Meanwhile, his wife Maggie is pressured by their Federal Faith Verification case worker to do her Christian duty and get pregnant. Because Seth is a convert, the case worker is authorized to inspect his home at any time, day or night, “to verify the authenticity” of Seth’s conversion. 

Behind the scenes glimpses at corrupt politicians and faith leaders (nothing new under the sun) heighten the tension and intensify the parallels with present day.

Finally Seth is betrayed as a hidden Jew and the trials he and Maggie endure in attempting to flee to Mexico (oh, the delicious irony) take the reader even deeper into the rotten heart of the theocracy that the US has become.

This fast-moving, compelling story would have seemed over the top a few years ago. Now, alas, even the most outrageous scenes are only a few crucial votes away. At times hilarious, at time terrifying, American Judas is, ultimately, a warning.

As Mickey wrote in my copy of the novel, “Have a blessed day. Or not. It’s still your choice.”

Highly recommended.