Split the Sun: An Inherit the Stars Novel

by Tessa Elwood

Overview

The Ruling Lord of the House of Galton is dead and the nation is divided. Kit Franks, a nobody escalated to infamy since her mother bombed the House capitol city, wishes she were dead, too. Then Mom-the-terrorist starts showing up on feeds and causing planet-wide blackouts and Kit becomes a target.

Kit's inundated with half-truths, betrayals, and the coded subtext in Mom's universal feed messages meant for her alone. Everyone from family to government enforcers seems to have a vision for Kit's future. The question is, does Kit have a vision for herself?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762458479
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	12/06/2016
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Tessa Elwood is a web designer obsessed with stories, coffee, and running shoes. She is the author of Inherit the Stars. She lives in Kansas City, MO.

Editorial Reviews

“Kit Franks is a fierce firestorm of desperation and raw nerve. With a nail-biter plot, only one thing will race faster than Kit's mind—the reader's heart.”
–Anne Boles Levy, author of the Temple of Doubt series

“Snappy, fierce, and gritty with artfully brisk prose, Split The Sun will surprise and thrill to the last page. Kit is an unapologetic heroine whose compassion shines through from beneath her tough exterior, even when faced with unpalatable choices. Split The Sun left me wanting more of this universe!”
–Amalie Howard, bestselling IndieNext author of Alpha Goddess and The Aquarathi series

“This sequel to Inherit the Stars (2015) offers plenty of action, and readers will be swept away, guessing along with Kit as she hurtles towards that uncertain future. Fans of the Hunger Games series and even Orwell's 1984 will look forward to the next installment in this series."
–Booklist

From the Publisher

03/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—Kit Franks is a pariah, recognized only as the daughter of the terrorist who blew up an important government building, killing dozens of people, including herself. Daily, Kit is berated by strangers who blame her for her mother's actions. Investigators believe that her mother is still alive, and they have threatened to use illegal methods on Kit to extract information about her mother's whereabouts. To add to her problems, Kit's living relatives are deadbeats who are after her property, and her estranged father has shown up to beg for help in repaying a debt to the neighborhood crime boss. Just when it seems that Kit has nothing left to live for, a cute boy named Niles comes into her life and begins to help her sort out her problems. Unfortunately, the many aforementioned conflicts make for a confusing and rushed plot, with no discernible main story line. The protagonist is angry and constantly lashing out at everyone around her. Her contrived romance with Niles adds little to a story already overrun with excess subplots. There is minimal science in this science fiction, and no real connection to the previous title, Inherit the Stars. Despite being marketed as a companion novel, Elwood's latest encompasses an entirely new setting and cast of characters, and the tone and content are much darker and mature. VERDICT Readers hoping for a continuation of the lighthearted romance and royal intrigue in the first volume will be disappointed with this messy series closer.—Liz Overberg, Zionsville Community High School, IN

School Library Journal

2016-07-26
Kit Franks has inherited a legacy of trouble from her terrorist mother in this companion to Inherit the Stars (2015). Many lives were lost in the bombing Millie Oen masterminded in the capital city of the House of Galton, where video screens stream feeds 24/7—including recordings of her mother’s cryptic messages, hacked into the feed for the world to see. Though Kit tries to keep her head down, she has a host of dysfunctional family members at her heels, including her aunt, her drug-addicted cousin, and her homeless, philandering father, as well as members of the Brinkers resistance who feel she has information that can prevent a planetary attack. Kit's neighbor, Niles, seems to be the only caring constant in Kit's frantic world, though the rushed romance between them flounders as the story struggles to find a cohesive thread. Elwood crafts a protagonist who, though not exactly flat, is a suicidal, passive-aggressive mess. For the first half of the book, she seems more focused on fixing the annoying predicaments of her codependent family members than trying to understand the truth about her mother’s act of terrorism. Kit’s black-haired and light-skinned; her mother’s last name implies she may be biracial, but this facet of her identity plays no real part in the story. The more intriguing aspects of this story are drowned out by the side-show melodrama. (Science fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Review