Your One & Only

Finlay's fine debut novel is a dystopian story about a future society gone terribly wrong due to irresponsible cloning. Long after the death of the human race from the Slow Plague, a series of nine models of clones are all that is left resembling humanity%E2%80%94save Jack, the only human boy alive in the world. But the generation of clones who raised Jack failed to integrate him with clones his own age. After a life of painful isolation, Jack finds there are dangerous fissures in the clones' culture%E2%80%94some cracks he has caused but others that arise from generations of genetic manipulation. Finlay introduces a second protagonist in Althea, a clone who develops an affinity for Jack that she doesn't understand and which threatens the collective harmony of her community. In this consistently well-structured world, Finlay weighs the cost of conformity verses rebellion, and the narrative's gracefully restrained style amplifies the story's profound underlying emotions. Ages 14-up. Agent: Adam Schear, DeFiore and Co. (Feb.)