By Lori DeBoer
I am a big fan of YA novels and I was particularly excited to work with Michael Carson, a Boulder author, on his new novel Thirst. It is a really gripping and emotionally engaging novel that offers a unique perspective on climate change through the lens of urban fantasy. It is very much akin to novels like Divergent, The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner. The main character is Lily Star, who has the ability to manipulate water that plays out against a background where climate change has divided the nation into factions warring over water. She lives with her family in the woods with its own mystic water supply, which puts her on a collision path with unscrupulous government agents. In addition to the characters and the well-thought-out story, I was particularly struck by the plight of what Michael dubbed “floaters,” who were people who displaced by from the flooded coastlines. This book is a fresh take on a future that might soon be ours, and I wholly recommend you read it. Michael is a fantastic writer who draws on his background in advertising and his concerns about global warming to bring his storytelling to a new level.
