Weekend Picks for August 8th

Erinn Bentley (and Cocoa too!)

Welcome to the second Weekend Picks for August, brought to us again by professor Erinn Bentley who focuses on the YAL science fiction novel Chasing the Stars by Malorie Blackman. Another great recommendation for your YAL TBR list!


​​Dr. Erinn Bentley is a professor of English education at Columbus State University, where she also serves as the Associate Director of the Center for Global Engagement. She enjoys mentoring pre-service secondary English teachers, graduate students, and her doctoral candidates. In addition to teaching YA literature and pedagogy courses, Erinn leads study abroad programs for education majors in Belize, Ecuador, England, and Japan. In her free time, you’ll probably find her on a robotics field mentoring FIRST teams as part of the Columbus Space Program. ​

Chasing the Stars by Malorie Blackman

Malorie Blackman

​​As someone who loves YA science fiction, I am excited to share Malorie Blackman’s Chasing the Stars with you all. Set in the future, we meet 18-year-old Olivia and her twin brother, Aidan, traveling across the universe to Earth after their crew dies from a mysterious virus. Along the way, they pause to rescue a group of stranded humans under attack. In this group we encounter Nathan, who falls head over heels with Olivia. These star-crossed teens navigate their relationship as their ship evades hostile aliens, and the new crew tries to build trust with the co-captain siblings. Aliens are not the only challenge, though. Jealousy and rumors threaten to tear Olivia and Nathan apart, sibling loyalty is tested, and a series of murders threatens everyone on the ship.

​Told from alternating points of view, we get to explore the inner thoughts of Olivia and Nathan; however, both are hiding secrets – from each other, other characters, and from the reader. Slowly, events from their past are revealed, and we learn how their lives were tragically woven together before they even met. Other readers have alluded to this novel being a retelling of Shakespeare’s Othello, which could be an interesting approach to teaching this text.

​Lastly, if you are familiar with Blackman’s YA series Noughts and Crosses, you know she is not shy about addressing themes regarding race, class, power, fate, and free will, which she also deftly weaves into this sci-fi novel.