Ask a Bookseller: A climate-change driven YA sci-fi

Lauren Abesames of Wind City Books in Casper, Wyo., loves young adult fiction, and first on her list of recent books to recommend was “The Ones We’re Meant to Find” by Joan He. It’s set in a dystopic reality where climate change has taken a drastic toll on Earth, resulting in a split in the world population: 25 percent live in floating cities, spending much of their lives in virtual reality to reduce their carbon footprints. The other 75 percent live back on the ground, amidst the elements. The story is told by two sisters who are separated. Cee wakes up marooned on an island with no memory of who she is, other than a need to return to her sister. Back in her floating city, sister Kasey must fit together the pieces of her sister’s disappearance. “There is a very, very good plot twist that I think readers will really enjoy,” says Abesames. Without revealing any spoilers, she says she appreciates the novel’s message about the consequences of our actions and the ways those actions trickle through the generations.