The Unhappening of Genesis Leeby Shallee McArthur
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Release Date: November 18th 2014
Seventeen-year-old Genesis Lee has never forgotten anything. As one of the Mementi—a small group of genetically-enhanced humans—Gena remembers everything with the help of her Link bracelets, which preserve memories perfectly. But Links can be stolen, and six people have already lost their lives to a memory thief, including Gena’s best friend.
Anyone could be next. Which is why Gena is less than pleased to meet a strange but charming boy named Kalan who claims that they’ve not only met, but that Gena knows who the thief is.The problem is, Gena doesn’t remember Kalan, she doesn’t remember seeing the thief, and she doesn’t know why she’s forgetting things— or how much else she might forget. As growing tensions between Mementi and ordinary humans drive the city of Havendale into chaos, Gena and Kalan team up to search for the thief. And as Gena loses more memories, they realize they have to solve the mystery fast.Because Gena’s life is unhappening around her.
"Equal parts dark and delightful, McArthur's stunning debut takes an awesome SF premise and follows it deep into the maze of the human mind. I loved it so much I was jealous." – Dan Wells, author of the NYT bestselling PARTIALS Sequence
"A thrilling read from beginning to end, this stunning debut had me wishing I could record my memories to keep them safe! Just like Gena, I was desperate to discover the thief while at the same time hoping the story would never end." – Elana Johnson, author of the POSSESSION trilogy
The Inspiration for The Unhappening of Genesis Lee
When I was about ten years old, my elementary school teacher read us Lois Lowry’s The Giver in class.
It changed my life.
I guess I should clarify—it changed my perspective. You see, I’ve been a very hungry reader since I was little. When I was about seven, I wanted to start reading “chapter books.” So my mom took me to the store. She picked out a chapter book for me called The Halloween Candy Mystery by Marion M. Markham. It had big words, short chapters, and was about 40 pages long. You know, an appropriate-for-a-seven-year-old-breaking-out-of-picture-books kind of chapter book.
I picked out a longer, legitimate MG novel called Megan’s Ghost by Marilyn Kaye. Mom let me get both, and I devoured them and never stopped asking for more. So why was The Giver so different?
Books are entertainment. We read because it’s fun, because we enjoy the story. That’s what I loved about it as a kid, and what I still love now. But when I first read The Giver, I discovered that books could be MORE. They could be a little frightening. They could make you think about things in a new way. They could make you FEEL things, and make certain things important to you.
From that day, I knew that I didn’t just want to read books like that. I wanted to write them.
I also knew that someday I had to write a book about memory. The Giver convinced me of how important memories are to us as individuals and as societies. It made me wonder just how much memory forms us as individuals and societies. I wanted to delve deeper into it, to look at all those questions I had about memory through a story of my own.
And then I grew up, and my grandmother got Alzheimer’s. And I became afraid of forgetting certain events in my life that mean so much to me. And after visiting my mother, who is very sentimental about objects, my husband said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could store our memories of an object IN that object?”
And that story I always knew I had to write was born.
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Shallee McArthur originally wanted to be a scientist, until she discovered she liked her science best in fictional form. When she’s not writing young adult science fiction and fantasy, she’s attempting to raise her son and daughter as proper geeks. A little part of her heart is devoted to Africa after volunteering twice in Ghana. She has a degree in English from Brigham Young University and lives in Utah with her husband and two children.
She is represented by Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates. Her YA sci fi novel, THE UNHAPPENING OF GENESIS LEE, debuts from Sky Pony Press Nov. 4, 2014.
And because people always ask, her name is pronounced "shuh-LEE." But she answers to anything that sounds remotely close.
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Love how you got the idea from the desire to help your grandma. Great cover! Congrats Shallee!
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