Genesis Girl by Jennifer Bardsley
Release Date: June 14, 2016
Publisher: Month9Books
Publisher: Month9Books
Eighteen-year-old Blanca has
lived a sheltered life. Her entire childhood has been spent at Tabula Rasa
School where she’s been protected from the Internet. Blanca has never been
online and doesn’t even know how to text. Her lack of a virtual footprint has
made her extremely valuable and upon graduation Blanca, and those like her, are
sold to the highest bidders. Blanca is purchased by Cal McNeal, who uses her to
achieve personal gain. But the McNeal’s are soon horrified by just how obedient
and non-defiant Blanca is. All those mind-numbing years locked away from
society have made her mind almost impenetrable. By the time Blanca is ready to
think for herself, she is trapped. Her only chance of escape is to go online.
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The
real-life location that inspired Genesis
Girl
I live in Edmonds, Washington, a stone’s throw from
Seattle and in view of the Olympic Mountains, aka the Cullen hunting grounds from
The Twilight Series. Washington is called
“The Evergreen State” for a reason. Douglas firs, hemlocks, big leaf maples;
everywhere I look I see trees.
But when I was writing Genesis Girl I was most inspired by the ten years I spent living in
the Bay Area of Northern California. There, in the heart of Silicon Valley, I
studied at Stanford University and became a third grade teacher. Everyone
around me got high paying jobs in the tech industry, but my first teaching
assignment was in East Palo Alto, the former murder capital of America.
The disparity between rich and poor is something that
has always stayed with me. There’s not a rich/poor divide in Genesis Girl, but there is definitely a
contrast between people who are consumed by technology and those who shun it.
Probably that’s a reflection of my long ago third grade classroom that didn’t
even have one computer. Forget books and information; our school’s library had
burnt down.
Blanca, my main character in Genesis Girl, lives her whole life in the Silicon Valley yet she
never gets to access the riches around her. She can’t make new discoveries on
the Internet, because she has no access to technology.
I set the Sci-Fi world of Genesis Girl about fifty years in the future, but if you drive down
Highway 101 from San Francisco to San Jose you’ll see a similar divide between
people whose lives are enriched by new innovations, and those who are
subsisting on the crumbs of the Silicon Valley elite.
The next time your smart phone freezes it up and you
curse it for not being the latest generation, consider this. My third graders
back in East Palo Alto would probably think your crappy old iPhone, was pretty
darn cool.
About the Author:
Jennifer Bardsley writes the
parenting column “I Brake for Moms” for The Everett Daily Herald. Her debut YA
novel, “Genesis Girl” will be published by Month9Books on June 14, 2016, with
the sequel releasing in 2017. “Genesis Girl” is about a teenager who has never
been on the Internet. Jennifer however, is on the web all the time as “The YA
Gal” with over 20,000 followers on Facebook, and 15,000 followers on Instagram.
On Facebook, she hosts the weekly instant book club called #TakeALookTuesday
where YA Gal friends geek out, share pictures of what they are reading, and
chat about books. Jennifer is a member of SCBWI, The Sweet Sixteens debut
author group, and is founder of Sixteen To Read. An alumna of Stanford
University, Jennifer lives near Seattle, WA where she enjoys spending time with
her family and her poodle, Merlin.
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Giveaway:
- One (1) winner will receive a scrabble tile book cover charm (US ONLY)
- Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of Genesis Girl by Jennifer Bardsley (INT)
Contest ends July 2, 2016
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