Transcendent
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A timely work of contemporary magical realism, about a world plagued by violence, and the girl called upon to be a hero.
When terrorists bomb Disney World, seventeen-year-old Iris Spero is as horrified as anyone else. Then a stranger shows up on her stoop in Brooklyn, revealing a secret about the mysterious circumstances surrounding Iris’s birth, and throwing her entire identity into question. Everything she thought she knew about her parents, and about herself, is a lie.
Suddenly, the press is confronting Iris with the wild notion that she might be “special.” More than just special: she could be the miracle the world now so desperately needs. Families all across the grieving nation are pinning their hopes on Iris like she is some kind of saint or savior. She’s no longer sure whom she can trust—except for Zane, a homeless boy who long ago abandoned any kind of hope. She knows she can’t possibly be the glorified person everyone wants her to be… but she also can’t go back to being safe and anonymous. When nobody knows her but they all want a piece of her, who is Iris Spero now? And how can she—one teenage girl—possibly heal a broken world?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A young woman struggles with matters of faith and destiny in the wake of a horrifying terrorist attack on American soil. Seventeen-year-old Iris Spero discovers that she is the product of an immaculate conception (her mother is Mina, from 2015's Immaculate), and possibly the next messiah. As she reels with the idea that her family has lied to her all her life, resisting the notion that she has divine powers or purpose, Iris's identity is leaked to the public, forcing her to hide even as the world clamors for her to prove herself and heal those wounded by the attack. But Iris lacks faith in herself, let alone a higher power, and her road to self-realization is fraught with danger and doubt. Detweiler again presents an intriguing contemporary riff on Christian themes, but her heroine's insecurity and indecisiveness grow tedious as she repeatedly rejects friends, family, and the truth. Iris's drawn-out path to actually do something productive and an incidental romantic subplot lessen the impact of the emotional journey and actualization at the heart of the story. Ages 14 up.