The loneliest girl in the universe by Lauren James
Walker Books, 2017. ISBN 9781406375473
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. Themes: Space Travel; Trust; Science
Fiction; Loneliness. Imagine you are the only person in your
universe (apart from someone who is only contactable via email and
even then your responses may be separated in time by months or
years) . . . imagine the loneliness!
In this incredibly interesting Science Fiction book, the central
character, Romy, is a survivor on a Space exploration vessel which
is on its way to establish EarthII. Her story is further complicated
because she has never even set foot on Earth, as she was born in the
spacecraft The Infinity to her astronaut parents who were
commanding the interplanetary vessel which was stocked and prepared
for an extraordinary amount of years of travel away from Earth. The
craft was populated by many people and waiting embryos, all in
suspended torpor ready for something new - a brave new world. Romy
has been raised to be independent and resourceful and well-versed in
all things scientific and technical. Disastrous circumstances have
left her alone, living with her own grief, but in a position of
great responsibility. Into this lonely existence, filled only with
technical tasks, learning how to solve intensely difficult
Mathematics and Physics problems, watching film files and writing
her own fan-fic (fiction from fans that creates storylines into her
favourite Film fiction) is an interruption of the romantic kind.
Another spacecraft is on the way to connect with The Infinity.
Initially just a voice in a text, but eventually a meeting as the
newer vessel travels at greater speed to make contact with Romy's
own travelling spacecraft. The complications of a possible human
encounter raise all sorts of teenage dilemmas as Romy's imagination
takes hold. Will this meeting in space be all that she wants it to
be? Is there something not quite right about what she is about to
encounter?
Lauren James has a background in STEM subjects and this is a perfect
book to recommend to those who love Science Fiction and a sprinkling
of science related information in a science-rich context and
setting. (A genuine STEAM book, with the addition of the Arts!)
Understanding the relative shrinking of time between the two
converging vessels is important in understanding the loneliness of
Romy which is expressed through her email conversations. With a
mixture of the Sci-fi, romance and thriller genre for teens, this is
a wonderful book to recommend. It certainly causes the reader to
think about what space travel might be like, and what it might mean
for the future, and it places scientific knowledge into fiction in a
really positive way.
Carolyn Hull