Blight

When an agribusiness facility producing genetically engineered food releases a deadly toxin into the environment, seventeen-year-old Tempest Torres races to deliver the cure before time runs out.

From the author of the acclaimed American Booksellers Association’s Indies Introduce pick Salvage, which was called “Brilliant, feminist science fiction” by Stephanie Perkins, the internationally bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss. This stand-alone action-adventure story is perfect for fans of Oryx and Crake and The House of the Scorpion.

Seventeen-year-old Tempest Torres has lived on the AgraStar farm north of Atlanta, Georgia, since she was found outside its gates at the age of five. Now she’s part of the security force guarding the fence and watching for scavengers—people who would rather steal genetically engineered food from the Company than work for it. When a group of such rebels accidentally sets off an explosion in the research compound, it releases into the air a blight that kills every living thing in its path—including humans. With blight-resistant seeds in her pocket, Tempest teams up with a scavenger boy named Alder and runs for help. But when they finally arrive at AgraStar headquarters, they discover that there’s an even bigger plot behind the blight—and it’s up to them to stop it from happening again.

Inspired by current environmental issues, specifically the genetic adjustment of seeds to resist blight and the risks of not allowing natural seed diversity, this is an action-adventure story that is Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake meets Nancy Farmer’s House of the Scorpion.

She was trained to protect the company. But what happens when the company is the real enemy?

• An Eco-Thriller Adventure: Inspired by real-world environmental issues, this story pits seventeen-year-old Tempest against a deadly, man-made blight that kills everything it touches—including people.
• A Reluctant Alliance: She’s a company guard; he’s a scavenger. To survive, Tempest and Alder must trust each other, even when they discover the truth is more dangerous than the blight itself.
• Genetically Engineered Danger: Raised to protect AgraStar’s genetically modified crops, Tempest now holds the only key to a cure: a pocketful of blight-resistant seeds.
• A Race Against Time: From the farmlands of Georgia to the heart of AgraStar headquarters, Tempest must outrun the spreading toxin and expose a plot that could doom them all.