Pangu's Shadow

November 6, 2023
Queer teens find love while trying to clear themselves of suspicions of murder in this far-future mystery from Bao (the Dove Chronicles series). Though dancer Aryl Fielding was born on G-Moon One, the crown jewel of the Pangu Star System, she faces discrimination for being the daughter of immigrants from agricultural hub G-Moon Two. Things are even harder for Ver Yun, who hails from manufacturing center G-Moon Three and, like many Three-ers, lives with a degenerative disease. To please her parents, Aryl is completing a research apprenticeship at the Institute for Natural Exploration—something she’d enjoy more if not for demanding boss Cal Eppi and brilliant, brownnosing fellow apprentice Ver. Meanwhile, Ver resents Aryl’s physical strength and grace. The trio is working late one night when the power fails, and someone kills Cal. Police charge Aryl and Ver, largely out of prejudice, so the duo joins forces to solve the murder. Secondary characters lack depth, and the denouement is too pat. Bao nevertheless writes incisively and empathetically about Ver’s physical impairments, and Aryl and Ver’s alternating narration capably ferry a spirited plot, during which tender romance sparks. The cast is intersectionally diverse. Ages 12–up. Agent: Veronica Park, Fuse Literary.

Starred review from December 15, 2023
Two teen girls accused of murdering their boss will be sent to their moon's penal colony unless they can find the real killer. Seventeen-year-old Aryl Fielding's true passion is dance, but her coveted research apprenticeship at the Institute for Natural Exploration honors her parents' sacrifices as immigrants from agricultural G-Moon Two to affluent G-Moon One. Sixteen-year-old black-haired and olive-skinned Ver Yun left her industrially ravaged home of G-Moon Three to apprentice at the lab so she could search for a cure for the degenerative disease that has left her disabled. Aryl, who has "bronze skin and mahogany ringlets," sees Ver as an opportunistic know-it-all; Ver thinks Aryl is a slacker who skates by on her intimidating physical superiority. When Investigator Cal Eppi, the girls' supervisor, is murdered, the police automatically charge them, the immigrant offworlders. With only days left until their trial, they move from mutual distrust to working together. As their rivalry turns to romance, they take on powerful people who are hiding big secrets. This dual-perspective tale maintains a vivid connection to each narrator's voice while keeping up an exciting pace and unfurling a satisfying mystery. The portrayals of queer people, immigrant families, and those living with chronic pain and disability are well executed in this work, which is set in a world infused with Asian cultural elements. Hard to put down: a strongly written work that pulls no punches while providing much-needed representation. (author's note, discussion questions) (Science fiction mystery. 13-18)

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