Leviathan

I’m a geek for a good undercover story because of the constant underlying tension. Place that undercover story in an alternate world, and you’ve got my attention! Leviathan takes place in Scott Westerfeld's fabulous re-imagining of the events surrounding WWI. It’s a world where the secrets of DNA were discovered far earlier and put to use as natural “machinery.”

Our star is Deryn Sharp, one of my favorite middle-grade heroines. She’s a commoner disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman, brave and fearless and clever… and living in constant fear someone will discover her… show more.

With a vibrant steampunk setting that pits airships against fantastical creatures, Leviathan follows the story of Deryn Sharp, who joins the air service disguised as a male soldier. The second character we follow is a young prince disguised as a commoner, trying to flee the country Deryn is fighting. This is my favorite type of story, told in the same way as in my book: with tight points of view from drastically different characters on opposing sides of a war, who both have big secrets that could destroy them if the other finds out. Action-packed and daring, it was… show more.

Sometimes the only way a girl can get her way, assert her power, and find her voice or freedom is to be a boy. There are a lot of terrific girl disguised as a boy stories out there (Mulan and Twelfth Night, for example) but none are so smartly done as Scott Westerfeld’s steampunk trilogy kicked off by Leviathan. This steampunk World War 1 tale re-imagines a war fought by ‘Clankers,’ those who fashion steam-driven machines (Austria/Hungary/Germany) against ‘Darwinists’ (Britain) who deploy genetic fabrications. The heroine, a Darwinist, disguises herself as a boy seeking adventure in the… show more.