PLOTTING THE STARS

It’s 2448, and Myra discovers that the world of plants and growing things might exist outside of history texts.

Twelve-year-old Myra Hodger is a struggling first-year student at the exclusive Scientific Lunar Academy of Magic, where students begin Creers in science, technology, and the magic that accompanies them. The calling of an individual’s Creer is reflected in Inscriptions that appear on the skin. Myra’s parents are well-known Number Whisperers, mathematicians whose passion distracts them from Myra’s growing awareness and worry that math is not her Creer; she has yet to see any sign of mathematical formulas appear on her skin. When Myra’s exploration of the school during one of her frequent hours of class-cutting reveals an astonishing hidden garden, she is drawn to the plants growing there in a profound way. But plants are now forbidden—billions of people died during a worldwide toxic mutation of plants on the Old World—Earth. The survivors live in settlements on several planets, and food is manufactured according to formulas that are now malfunctioning. Debut author Barry smoothly incorporates contemporary—and perhaps perennial—issues of elite education, pressure to succeed, corporate corruption, class divides, systemic prejudice, and environmental depredation while delivering a boarding school story in a believable off-world setting. Most characters read White.

Nicely realized, intriguingly complex, and well set up for sequels.