America Pacifica

Yesterday I finished the novel America Pacifica by Anna North.  As I have previously explained, I'm a sucker for dystopian novels. What makes this novel different, however, is that it is a real grown up adult book versus a young adult novel.

I first encountered this book while browsing at borders. It was on the featured table at the front of the store. I was initially drawn to the cover and thought that the plot sounded intriguing. It is about an 18 year old girl  named Darcy who lives on an isolated island dystopian society.  Her mother came there from the mainland (Portland!) before she was born.  North America had become uninhabitable do to extreme global warming. The novel really kicks off when the Darcy's mother disappears. Darcy goes on a quest to find her and realizes that not is all as it seems. 

I didn't buy it, however. A few days later, I was at Powells and decided that I had changed my mind and wanted it.  Finding it proved tricky. First I looked in the new and featured book section- no go. Then I went to the teen dystopian book section- also no go. I looked in the adult sci fi section- nope. Then I went to the adult literature fiction, where I couldn't find it.  That's when I decided I needed help.  Unfortunately, I didn't know the name of the novel but I knew what the cover looked like and the general plot of it. The Powell's staffer in the adult literature section had never heard of it.  We then looked up names of books on the computer using words like Pacifica, Cascadia, ect.  I saw the title and thought that perhaps it was the correct one.  It was actually about 6 feet from where I was talking to the staffer, in the adult literature section. It was not being featured in any sort of way.  I managed to get a used copy that looked brand new.  The employee said that she never would have thought that that was the book I was looking for.   Funny thing, however, when I went home I found a piece of paper describing the book from the publisher for the book store. Obviously, I had gotten the promotional copy, which was why no one knew what I was talking about.  

Today when I went back to Powell's it was being featured on its shelf, with the cover showing versus the spine. I would like to think that thats because of me :)

Anyhow, back to the book.  It was very gritty and raw. I do think its appropriate calling it an adult novel versus young adult, despite the young age of the protagonist.  But really, whats the difference?   There was some very non-romantic non-erotic sexual content bordering on rape/prostitution and you could feel the filth. The ending was ambiguous and it could lead to a sequel, which I would read.

Overall I liked it because it was different.