Parched

In sixteen-year-old Tessendra Rockwood's world, natural resources are at an all-time low. Most of the remaining supplies are funneled into Eden, known as the "powerful city of shining abundance," while citizens of the Badlands eat gelatinous gray porridge and drink reddish iron water. Tess was born an Edenite, but after the death of her scientist mother she decides to combat this inequality by joining a rebel group called Kudzu. Together they uncover a shocking government plot to carry out genocide in the Badlands using artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, Tess has some complicated ties to the project that test her loyalty. Robots, renewable resources, and romance get tangled together as Tess risks her life to bring justice to Eden. Robots, renewable resources, and romance get tangled together in this thrilling futuristic adventure novel about a utopian city struggling to keep its peace. "A gutsy teen living on an arid, depleted Earth two centuries in the future faces danger and shocking revelations when she covertly joins a subversive group. Sixteen-year-old Tess lived in Eden, a seemingly idyllic, domed city where access to information and water is regulated by the governing Trust. After a rogue robot killed her scientist mother, Tess fled with a terrible secret to the desperate, arid Badlands, where shes recruited by Kudzu, explained to her as a nonviolent collective working to undermine the Trust and free the Badlands. Learning Kudzu plans to destroy Aevum, the Trusts latest advanced robot, Tess reluctantly returns to Eden, where she finds the luxurious life morally unconscionable and secretly trains with Kudzu. Living with her uncle, whos involved with Aevum, Tess is strangely attracted to his sympathetic assistant, Hunter. During a Kudzu raid on the Trusts lab, Tess discovers that Aevum will be used to eradicate all inhabitants of the Badlandsand that Hunters not what he seems to be. Tess first-person, present-tense voice lends chilling immediacy to her no-nonsense story of mixed loyalty, disturbing secrets, and ethical dilemmas associated with diminishing natural resources and scientific experimentation. Bold futurist adventure with unusual romance, riveting action and ominous ecological red flags." Kirkus Reviews In sixteen-year-old Tessendra Rockwood's world, natural resources are at an all-time low. Most of the remaining supplies are funneled into Eden, known as the "powerful city of shining abundance," while citizens of the Badlands eat gelatinous gray porridge and drink reddish iron water. Tess was born an Edenite, but after the death of her scientist mother she decides to combat this inequality by joining a rebel group called Kudzu. Together they uncover a shocking government plot to carry out genocide in the Badlands using artifical intelligence. Unofrtunately, Tess has some complicated ties to the project that test her loyalty. Robots, renewable resources, and romance get tangled together as Tess risks her life to bring justice to Eden. Feeling guilty after her mother's accidental death, sixteen-year-old Tessendra Rockwood leaves the abundance of Eden to fight for survival in the drought-devastated Badlands, but when she joins the rebel group, Kudzu, to fight the tyranny of Eden's government, she is in for some big surprises. Feeling guilty after her mother's accidental death, 16-year-old Tessendra leaves the abundance of Eden to fight for survival in the drought-devastated Badlands, where she joins a rebel group to fight tyranny. The plot contains profanity and violence.