Middle Grade Science Fiction & Fantasy Author
PLOTTING THE STARS BOOK 2: SEAGARDEN
REVOLUTION IS WATERED WITH SWEAT AND TEARS.
Forced to hide her new-found magic or risk imprisonment or worse, Myra enrolls in an interplanetary academy exchange program to dig up more about the government’s many conspiracies, but instead uproots even darker secrets that could drown everything she’s grown to trust. The second book in the searing STEAM-inspired Plotting the Stars middle grade series perfect for fans of The City of Ember and Divergent.
As Myra Hodger begins her second year at the elite Scientific Lunar Academy of Magic, she should be happy. Her days of faking Number Whisperer magic are over, and she has friends she can trust with the secret of her Botan abilities. But that doesn’t mean she’s through pretending to be someone she’s not. Mourning Bernie and the incredible Moongarden they cultivated together, she feels like she’s losing herself just when she found the thing that made her feel whole. She’s given a seed of hope when she runs into a teen Rep in the hallway who looks eerily familiar. But irritable Bernard, controlled by his Rep implant, is nothing like her beloved Bernie.
With the continuing interplanetary food crisis conspiracy, an anonymous tip about a community of free Reps who might be able to help save Bernard, and the hunt for more information about what really happened to the banished Botans, all routes seem to point to Venus, and an exchange program with the Vesuvian Academy of Magical Arts might provide Myra and her friends the cover they need to unearth the answers they seek.
Or it might widen the cracks already forming among them, releasing a flood of consequences that could wash away all they’ve worked so hard to grow.
The second book in the Plotting the Stars series, Seagarden blossoms with unexpected twists and heartbreaking revelations, underpinned by climate change warnings and a determination to fight against the status quo.
PLOTTING THE STARS BOOK 1: MOONGARDEN
The Secret Garden meets The City of Ember. Failed climate change policy, an intergalactic conspiracy, and the magical, unlikely heroine who could unearth it all. An explosive STEAM-inspired series starter perfect for young change makers.
Centuries ago, Earth’s plants turned deadly, and humanity took to space to cultivate new homes. Myra Hodger is in her first year at an elite school on the Moon, and she’s crumbling under the pressure. She doesn’t fit in and, worse, the tattoos that signal her Number Whisperer magic aren’t developing. In her heart, she knows she doesn’t have a Creer, and soon everyone else will, too.
Wandering the halls while cutting class, she discovers a secret lab hidden behind one of the unused classrooms and, beyond that, a secret garden overflowing with plants. Dangerous toxic plants.
As she learns more about the garden, Myra begins to wonder if she does have a Creer after all—one that died out when the Earth did. One that could help solve the food shortages the government doesn’t want anyone to know about.
Re-envisioning The Secret Garden for a new generation, Moongarden weaves together STEAM themes and intense social pressures in a stunning series starter, and introduces a dynamic heroine who might just grow a revolution.
"The storytelling is immersive and engrossing, touching on environmental issues, class structure and prejudice, and the struggle to find one’s truest self. Readers will be eager for the next installment in this marvelous, magical universe."
—Booklist, starred review
"Moongarden blooms with heart and adventure. A stellar update of The Secret Garden, woven with a little science-fiction, a lot of magic, a vibrant heroine, and a plucky robot sidekick to rival R2D2." —Victoria Aveyard, New York Times bestselling author
"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. Nicely realized, intriguingly complex, and well set up for sequels." —Kirkus Reviews
