Title: The Last Story
Age Category: Young Adult
Genre: Social Science Fiction (own voices)
Word Count: 85,000

Pitch: Despite her Muslim heritage, Safie has blended into the Union, part of a world now divided along geographical and ideological borders. But when her best friend is murdered, she won’t any longer. Frankenstein character, reimagined.

First 250 Word of Manuscript:

“Zaida tried desperately to call up memories of what happened yesterday.  She tried to see herself and Sarah playing in the gardens, laughing at one thing or another–a trick performed by a troubadour or the way some foreign dignitary had looked at them when he thought no one was watching. But Zaida could not form a clear picture. She could not see herself before here, before now, before this day. Today, where no laughter can be heard.”
—The Last Story

Despite how hard I try to focus on what the teacher says, her voice burbles in the background like the Creek by the Peak mode of white noise on my Serenity Sleep app.  I squint at my tablet, hoping that the degrees of latitude and longitude might magically reveal themselves and show me in what form they’ll appear on next week’s Geography test, but it’s a lost cause.  Besides, weekends are made for studying, right? Well, this one will have to be because I won’t be able to focus until after the movie premiere tonight.  I probably should have pulled a Helen and not come to school today, but my mother had insisted whereas Helen’s mother had stopped insisting on anything for a while.

So, here I am.

And here Helen is not.

With just a bit of envy for her not having to be at school today, I give my mind permission to abandon Geography and imagine instead how fabulous tonight will be.

6 thoughts on “W8: YA Social Science Fiction (own voices): The Last Story

  1. Gumdrop Pass! (Query + 1st 50 pages) Please email the material to LBiagi@jvnla.com, with Pitch Madness in the subject line. If you’re able to include a synopsis as well, that would be awesome. Intrigued to see what happens!

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