Moondust

Aggie is working as a technician for Lunar Inc., the company that mines for the miracle mineral Lumite, on the Moon.  But Aggie has a secret that she does not want to share: she is the sole survivor from a catastrophic explosion that occurred 10 years previously and where she gained the title of ‘Angel of Adrianne’.  The events have left her traumatized and wanting to keep out of the limelight.  However with threats from an organization called ‘the Fall’ putting mining at risk, the powers that be want her to take up her mantle as the ‘Angel’ and front their attempts to improve their support.  However not everything is as it seems and Aggie soon finds her loyalties divided and her trust being tested.

This is a science fiction story that gets very close to having a feel of being possible.  The underlying themes are very much about the environment and how far we can go in order to maintain our fuel hungry lifestyle.  It is also about the lengths that big business will go to in order to protect their interests.  Aggie is a damaged heroine in that she lost her father in the disaster and he was blamed for the event; putting a sense of guilt on his daughter.  She finds herself in a situation where she does not know who she can trust, including those she has depended on for the last 10 years.  The story really makes you think about the world we are living in now and how we can prevent our resources being totally consumed.  The debate has been ongoing for years but this book gives another opportunity to bring the matter to young people and for them to consider what kind of world they want to live in.  Whilst this stands up as an exciting action story, it also works at a much deeper level and will support elements of the curriculum.