Fragile Remedy

by Maria Ingrande Mora

Overview

Sixteen-year-old Nate is a GEM—a Genetically Engineered Medi-tissue—created by Gathos City scientists as a cure for the elite from the fatal lung rot ravaging the population. As a child, Nate was smuggled out of the laboratory where he was held captive and taken into the Withers—a quarantined, lawless region. He manages to survive by becoming a Tinkerer, fixing broken tech in exchange for food or a safe place to sleep. When he meets Reed, a kind and fiercely protective boy who makes his heart race, and his misfit gang of scavengers, Nate finds the family he’s always longed for—even if he can’t risk telling them what he is.

But Gathos created a genetic fail-safe in their GEMs—a flaw in their DNA that causes their health to rapidly deteriorate as they age unless they are regularly dosed with medication controlled by Gathos City. When violence erupts across the Withers, Nate’s illegal supply of medicine is cut off, and a vicious attack on Reed threatens to expose his secret. With time running out, Nate is left with only two options: work for a shadowy terrorist organization that has the means to keep him alive, or stay—and die—with the boy he loves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635830569
Publisher:	North Star Editions
Publication date:	03/09/2021
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	1,083,235
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Maria Ingrande Mora is a content strategist and a brunch enthusiast. Her love languages are snacks, queer joy, and live music. A graduate of the University of Florida, Maria lives near a wetlands preserve with two dogs, two cats, two children, and two billion mosquitoes. She can often be found writing at her stand-up desk, surrounded by house plants. Unless the cats have already destroyed them.

Editorial Reviews

"A boy-loves-boy dystopian fantasy for anyone needing a heartbreaking thrill." —Kirkus Reviews

"Readers will respond to the warmth, caring, and romance between young people living on the very edge." —Booklist

"Those seeking a vivid visit to the dystopian dark side can start here."—School Library Journal

"Mora deftly explores the raw impulses of humans through a foreboding lens: when faced with unimaginable obstacles some manage to strive for connection, resistance, and even love, and it is in that clawing against defeat that the most heartbreaking and memorable stories lie."—Bulletin of the Center of Children's Books 

"An intensely absorbing read from cover to cover, "Fragile Remedy" is an extraordinary science fiction novel by Maria Ingrande Mora and one which is especially and unreservedly recommended for middle school, high school, and community library collections."—Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

04/17/2020

Gr 8 Up—Nate, 16, created for spare parts and highly prized blood that causes euphoria, struggles in a world where so many have succumbed to lung rot. Genetically Engineered Medi-tissue, or GEM, he hides his secret because his blood is highly addictive for non-genetically engineered human beings. The poor and powerless live in the quarantined and lawless Withers, outside the walled metropolis of Gathos City. A Tinker who repairs broken tech, Nate is in love with Reed, the leader of a small gang whose members live by scavenging whatever they can find in bins and trashed buildings. He also has a troubled but intense relationship with Alden, a local drug dealer, who is the only one who can provide Nate with the Remedy he needs to stay alive. Primary characters have depth and complexity, while secondary ones serve mostly to forward the plot. This dystopian survival story wraps up too neatly in the final pages, with new characters introduced and hidden motivations suddenly revealed for a tidy conclusion. However, the action is immediate and relentless, with detailed and complex world-building. The Withers is described in language that evokes the worst of urban decay, providing an intriguingly shadowy backdrop for the unfolding events. Romantic, sensual moments between Reed and Nate, as well as Nate's fervid encounters with Alden, are juxtaposed against the grinding, daily struggle for survival. VERDICT Those seeking a vivid visit to the dystopian dark side can start here.—Janice M. Del Negro, GSLIS Dominican University, River Forest, IL

School Library Journal

2020-03-25
A genetically engineered boy struggles to survive a dystopia and win over the boy he adores.

Nate was manufactured to be a commodity. When lung-rot threatened the upper echelon of Gathos City, GEMs (Genetically Engineered Medi-tissue) like Nate were bioengineered for their restorative blood. Nate’s parents refused to let the privileged class vampirically use him, and they smuggled him out of Gathos—dying in the process. Liberated but orphaned, Nate faces other threats: GEMs die without a special remedy, and a street gang hunts GEMs to harvest them. So Nate conceals his genetics for self-preservation and to prevent the merry band of misfits he lives with from being accused of unwittingly harboring him. Plus, the head of those misfits, Reed, is the most beautiful boy Nate has ever wanted to kiss. Grit, grime, and steampunk tinkering define a landscape that could easily serve Oliver Twist or Blade Runner. Acts of terrorism, conflicting castes, and meals of rotted fruit underscore the struggle. But there’s beauty in the connectivity Nate’s band of friends find in surviving together. This is a dystopian labyrinth leading to love, with minotaurs in the form of murder, drug fiends, and the raw need to survive. Nate has golden-brown skin, love interest Reed has dark-brown skin, and their friend Sparks is cued as trans.

A boy-loves-boy dystopian fantasy for anyone needing a heartbreaking thrill. (Fantasy. 14-17)

Kirkus Reviews