Star Splitter (Hardcover)
Staff Reviews
Jessica Mathers has every right to be angry. First her parents abandoned her on earth for a research trip into outer space, and then, once she’s settled in with her grandmother and her friends, they insist she join them on their mission. Space travel in 2199 means using a 3-D printer to teleport across the universe. Before departure, a hard drive backs up memories for safekeeping in case the traveler's body is destroyed. When Jessica climbs out of the printer light years away from earth expecting to see her parents, she instead finds herself on a crashed ship on a bleak, seemingly abandoned planet. The truth behind what happened makes for a thrilling page-turner, but what I found really interesting was the way Star Splitter explores how life experiences can create wildly divergent emotional journeys. Because while illegal, it is possible to print two copies of the same person. The dual-narrative of dual Jessicas is brilliantly done here, and the wholly unexpected ending really packs an emotional punch. Teen readers will love the twisty plot, but don't miss out on this clever sci-fi just because you’re a grown-up!
— Jenny ChouDescription
Survival and self-determination collide in this haunting, pulse-pounding science fiction novel from Edgar Award–winning author Matthew J. Kirby that spans both space and time.
“An intense, read-in-one-sitting kind of ride.″—Kirkus, starred review
“Space exploration, teleportation, and cloning experiments end in disaster in this heart-pounding thriller.″—Publishers Weekly
2199. Deep-space exploration is a reality and teleportation is routine. But this time something seems to have gone very, very wrong. Seventeen-year-old Jessica Mathers wakes up in a lander that’s crashed onto the surface of Carver 1061c, a desolate, post-extinction planet fourteen light-years from Earth. The planet she was supposed to be viewing from a ship orbiting far above.
The corridors of the empty lander are covered in bloody hand prints; the machines are silent and dark. And outside, in the alien dirt, there are fresh graves carefully marked with names she doesn’t recognize. Now Jessica must unravel the mystery of the destruction all around her—and the questionable intentions of a familiar stranger.
About the Author
Matthew J. Kirby is the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of the middle grade novels The Clockwork Three, Icefall, The Lost Kingdom, Infinity Ring Book 5: Cave of Wonders, and The Quantum League series, the Dark Gravity Sequence, and the Assassin’s Creed series, Last Descendants. He was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start, he has won the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery, the PEN Center USA award for Children’s Literature, and the Judy Lopez Memorial Award, and has been named to the New York Public Library’s 100 Books for Reading and Sharing, and the ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults lists. He is also a school psychologist, and currently lives in Utah with his wife and three step-kids.
Praise For…
“The expertly juggled storyline nurtures a tension that blossoms into a palpable sense of dread as the downright spooky nature of the disaster is explored. Themes of identity hit hard, as they come with high stakes. An intense, read-in-one-sitting kind of ride.” —Kirkus, starred review
“Dual timelines imbued with believable hard science, harrowing action, and strong characterizations permeate Kirby’s breakneck adventure. Questions of personhood are skillfully elevated, explored against an inventive future backdrop in which cloning is the norm and the potential consequences of deceptively simple-sounding procedures come at high costs.” —Publishers Weekly
