Elysium Girls

Debut author Pentecost’s ambitious Dust Bowl–inspired dystopia pulses with dramatic scenes. After a 1935 dust storm decimates the Oklahoma Panhandle, Goddesses Life and Death challenge those remaining to establish order, building a city and tithing crops for 10 years, before their fate is determined. With four months to go, the town of Elysium, under the leadership of witch Mother Morevna, faces racial inequality, rising Dust Sickness, and infiltrating bandits, creating doubts as to the walled city’s future. When ailing Mother Morevna names 17-year-old outcast Sal Wilkerson her successor, Sal submerses herself in learning magic until Asa Skander, an otherworldly newcomer chosen by Life as a Wildcard, threatens Sal’s position. Following a witches’ duel, Sal is cast into the desert surrounding Elysium, where she meets a band of tenacious female scavengers who may be the city’s only hope in fighting the coming Dust Soldiers and winning against Death. Pentecost switches viewpoints as chapters count down the months and days until Elysium’s judgment; action-packed scenes and dialogue can sound stilted, but an imaginative premise and questions of free will vs. fate prove captivating. Ages 12–up. [em]Agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties. (Apr.) [/em]