Atom and Eve
Jeff Yager, 2013
Hannacroix Creek Books
255 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781938998348
Summary
In this controversial debut YA science fiction novel, set several years in the future, sixteen-year-old Ricky Romanello, a college freshman, is playing basketball when he collapses and winds up in a coma.
Ricky is suffering from a powerful flu that hits the U.S. population causing deaths and a dramatic economic slowdown. Research scientist Dr. Mandy Fox has been developing an anti-aging drug that she believes might also eradicate the flu. The government rushes approval for the drug before Ricky and the rest of the population can discover there is an unintended side effect that has catastrophic consequences. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—January 1, 1990
• Where—Stamford, Connecticut, USA
• Education—Westhill High School; studied
professional wrestling in New Jersey and Florida
• Currently—lives in the state of Florida
Book Reviews
[F]or young adult readers and one that is sure to please is Jeff Yager’s Atom & Eve, set several years into the future in which a powerful flu that causes many deaths and a dramatic slowdown of the economy. One of those affected is Ricky Romanello, a college freshman. A research scientist has developed an anti-aging drug that she believes could eradicate the flue and Ricky becomes one of the test subjects. The government approves the drug and the epidemic is soon over. He is cured, but soon he and others discover an unintended side effect that has catastrophic consequences for the entire population. Jeff comes from parents who are writers and, at age 23, his first novel demonstrates that talent can be inherited.
Alan Caruba - Bookviews.com
A destructive strain of flu sweeps America and sixteen-year-old college freshman Ricky Romanello is one of the first to be infected. Presidential candidate Kendra Martin struggles to retain her dignity and power in the face of misogyny in her tour of the red states. And virtuoso young scientist, Dr. Mandy Fox, is beginning to making it big time when discovers a cure for the alarming virus that’s putting America on lock down and crashing world economy. The only problem? It has some very…surprising side-effects. From this point on, you won’t be able to put this book down. A thrilling and innovative piece of sci-fi, Jeff Yager’s debut novel showcases a sharp, intelligent awareness of gender politics and a fresh, lively celebration of feminine achievement – a wholly up-to-date critique of society for modern young adults.
Camilla Laxness Brown - SmackFiction (a mobile app in New Zealand)
An impressive debut novel that will sweep young adults off their feet.
Jeffrey J. Fox, Author
In his wonderful debut novel, Atom and Eve, Jeff Yager has the uncanny ability to look into the female psyche and to open readers to the endless possibilities and creative energy of the divine feminine. A female scientist wanting to play God, female gang members in need of a time-out, a surprisingly effective female presidential candidate, and a 16-year-old male college student whose ominous fate we care about, give Atom and Eve a page-turning richness. Yager has created a fascinating novel where nothing is impossible especially if you are female.
Kim McMillon - KYOS AM, San Joaquin Valley, California
I enjoyed Atom and Eve by Jeff Yager. Started reading and got hooked. It dragged me in and along. This is a book I will be recommending!
Jeff Ganz, Former bookseller
From the suspenseful exposition to the surprise ending with a special twist-- Jeff Yager's debut is a fun and fast read: once you pick it up and get entangled in its fascinating gender-bending storyline, you will not be able to put it down!
Anette Isaacs, International speaker and travel guide
Discussion Questions
1. The very first line in Atom and Eve is this quote by the author: “Men and women will never truly understand each other until they switch roles and view life from the other’s perspective.” This is a primary theme in the novel and leads us to wonder how we would react to such changes. Have you ever thought about what it might be like if you were born as the opposite sex to what you are now?
2. The novel is “set in the near future,” which puts it in the category of “sci-fi.” Why do you think a novelist uses the literary device of setting a novel in the future rather than writing about what’s going on in the present or even in the recent past?
3. Who is your favorite character in Atom and Eve? Why?
4. Who is your least favorite character in Atom and Eve? Why?
5. A key theme in Atom and Eve is how the drug to cure or prevent the pandemic flu starts to have gender-bending consequences. Do you think there is the possibility of someone inventing such a drug? What traits do men have that women might actually benefit from? And what traits do women have that men usually lack that might actually help men?
6. One of the social and political hypotheticals in the novels is that there is a female presidential candidate in the United States, Kendra Martin. Looking ahead to the next presidential election, do you see this as a possibility? Why? Why not? Why do you think there has not yet been a female presidential candidate or president in the United States? Do you see that changing in the near or distant future? Why? Why not?
7. Have you ever thought about how drugs are tested or approved by a government? What did you learn about how that process occurs in the novel that you think mirrors or contradicts what really happens? How long do you think it usually takes to get a new drug or vaccine tested and approved by the federal government?
8. If you were the author of Atom and Eve, are there any characters you would have depicted differently, or plot points that you would have changed? Why?
9. If you could ask the author one question about his novel, what would it be?
10. Find the scene and dialogue you like the most in the novel and pair up with someone else in the Reading Group to act out that scene for the group. Let’s discuss those characters, the scene, and the dialogue. Why did you pick that particular scene and dialogue out from the novel?
(Questions issued by publisher.)