Across the Universe

Bibliographic Information: Revis, B. (2001). Across the Universe. New York: Razorbill. ISBN: 1595143971

Plot Summary: Amy, a seventeen-year old girl from Earth is torn between staying with her family, and finishing out her life on Earth.  Amy’s parents have joined a project to be cryogenically frozen and stored on the spaceship Godspeed traveling 300 years to a new planet they hope to colonize named Centauri-Earth.  She reluctantly agrees to join her parents on their 300-year frozen journey, but Amy is woken up fifty years too soon. Elder, the leader-in-training for the spaceship Godspeed stumbles upon Amy’s thawing body, and aids in her rescue.  Amy learns from the disgruntled leader, Eldest, that her presence on the ship is going to pose a threat to the mono-ethnic community aboard Godspeed, and she also has to deal with her grief of waking up 50 years prematurely.  All she wants is to see her parents again, but danger starts permeating the ship.  More frozen bodies are taken out of their cryogenic tanks, left to die.  She and Elder worry that her parents may be next, so they set out to solve the mystery, and catch the murderer.

Critical Evaluation: Beth Revis creates a space thriller told through the perspective of Amy and Elder.  With alternating narrations, Amy and Elder tell their story about the mysterious events that are taking place on the spaceship Godspeed.  The points-of-view in which Revis chose to tell the story provide great exposition in a narrative context.  The main characters, Elder and Amy, must grapple with earth-shattering discoveries.  Elder learns about the lower-levels of the spaceship, something Eldest has kept hidden from him.  He dislikes Eldest’s hesitance to trust him, and properly train him to become the next leader of the ship.  Elder’s discovery of Eldest’s secrets leads him to realize that much of the life he knew on Godspeed has been a lie.  Amy must deal with living as an outsider on Godspeed.  Eldest has convinced most of the ship’s inhabitants that she is a freak and a liar.  Amy is able to provide Elder with some perspective about life on the ship.  She senses that something is amiss, and acts as the catalyst to change the way of life on Godspeed. Across the Universe provides a window to the desperation people suffer when they are far, far, away from home.

Reader’s Annotation: The question isn’t where is she.  She knows she is on a spaceship headed for Centauri-Earth.  The question is when is she?  Amy wants to know why she is here now?  Why did someone wake her up while her parents still peacefully sleep sailing to their destination through outer space.

 

Information about the author: Beth Revis has been a life-long lover of Young Adult literature, and story writer.  She excelled in school, earning a BA in English, minor in history, and a MA in English Literature with a concentration in fantasy literature (Revis, n.d.).

After teaching for six years, a career she loved, Revis retired to focus on her writing.  Across the Universe is her first novel and trilogy, and she has also written a novella and a handful of short stories and Anthologies, which elaborate characters’ histories from Across the Universe (Revis, n.d.).

Genre: Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties: English  (literature)

Booktalking ideas (one or two):

1.    Conversation between Amy and her parents about leaving Earth.

Reading level/Interest age: 15+

Challenge Issues: The novel contains sexuality, attempted rape, and minor language.

To defend challenged material I would:

1.    Read/watch/listen to the material to become familiar with the content.

2.    Familiarize myself with the Arizona Common Core curriculum standards http://www.azed.gov/azcommoncore/teacher/ to defend how the material can support the learning of these standards.

3.    Refer to the Library Bill of Rights: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill

4.    Refer to the collection policy of my library.

5.    Collect reviews from staff/students/patrons who have used the material

Why I included this book: I included this book because of the unique point of view from which the story is told.  Alternating viewpoints between Elder and Amy help readers gather a deeper understanding of the novel.  The storyline is a little like Wall-E, in that humans have left earth to colonize another planet.  The science aspect about cryogenics will interest patrons interested in the science field. 

References:

Revis, B. (n.d.) Beth Revis. Website Retrieved from http://www.bethrevis.com/