Gunslinger Girl

by Surjit Bindrakhiya, James Patterson (Foreword by)

Overview

James Patterson presents a bold new heroine—a cross between Katniss Everdeen and Annie Oakley: Serendipity Jones, the fastest sharpshooter in tomorrow's West.

Seventeen-year-old Serendipity "Pity" Jones inherited two things from her mother: a pair of six shooters and perfect aim. She's been offered a life of fame and fortune in Cessation, a glittering city where lawlessness is a way of life. But the price she pays for her freedom may be too great....

In this extraordinary debut from Lyndsay Ely, the West is once again wild after a Second Civil War fractures the U.S. into a broken, dangerous land. Pity's struggle against the dark and twisted underbelly of a corrupt city will haunt you long after the final bullet is shot.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316555104
Publisher:	Little, Brown & Company
Publication date:	01/02/2018
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.40(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Lyndsay Ely is a writer and creative professional who currently calls Boston home. She is a geek, a foodie, and has never met an antique shop she didn't like. Gunslinger Girl is her debut novel.

Editorial Reviews

12/18/2017
After a second Civil War, 17-year-old Serendipity “Pity” Jones is little more than a punching bag and indentured servant to her father in the new west. A botched attempt to run away leads her to the city of Cessation, where she performs like a dystopian Annie Oakley, using the sharpshooter skills she inherited from her mother to earn herself a place in the show. Pity’s naiveté makes her an easy target in the glitzy community of Casimir, but her transformation from farm girl to willing killer, interspersed with her guilt over her best friend’s death and her romance with new acquaintance Max, is a bit rapid. Debut author Ely keeps Pity’s hands implausibly clean amid the sex, drugs, and debauchery of her environment, and although the lawless world Ely has created is rife with possibilities, the supporting characters, though colorful, are largely flat. For a gunslinger, Pity spends little time acting for her own sake, and her mere survival, let alone victory, under such circumstances comes across as similarly unlikely. Ages 15–up. Agent: Laura Zats, Red Sofa Literary. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Gunslinger Girl:


A Winter 2017-2018 Indie Next Pick
An Amazon Best Book of the Month - January 2018
A Barnes & Noble Best Book of the Month - January 2018

*"Dirty politics has its grip in this Western-like dystopia... [Ely] leaves the door ajar for Pity's return—and it would be a dang shame if she has ridden permanently off into the sunset."—Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books STARRED review

"Debut author Ely brings to life a gritty future American West... a little Into the Badlands, a little Firefly, a whole lot to say about how right and wrong so often borrow from each other."—Kirkus

"Ely's Gunslinger Girl is as thrilling as a three-ring circus, and just as hard to look away from. With an intricately woven plot of political intrigue and characters so vivid that they vibrate off the page, it's an unputdownable firecracker of a debut. Readers will be left hungry for more!"
—Natalie C. Anderson, author of City of Saints & Thieves

"A gripping, action-packed futuristic Western with an unforgettable heroine—Gunslinger Girl is not to be missed!"—Elizabeth Briggs, New York Times bestselling author of Future Shock

Equal parts futuristic dystopia and gritty western, Gunslinger Girl is genre-bending at its finest. Much like the theater in which her sharpshooting heroine performs, Ely's debut dazzles and stuns.
—Erin Bowman, author of Vengeance Road and Retribution Rails

"An action-packed, thrilling read in an exciting, genre-bending book. Ely introduces readers to a dystopian wild west that is brilliantly imagined...a plot full of surprises, temptation, betrayal, and, of course, shootouts will be a welcome addition to the dystopia bookshelf."—VOYA

From the Publisher

Serendipity “Pity” Jones lives in the United States after a second civil war has divided the country. Her mother was a Patriot, who lost the war, and only stayed sober enough to pass her sharpshooting skills on to Pity. After her mother died, Pity inherited a pair of six-shooters and the hatred of her father. Needing an escape, Pity runs away and finds herself in the city of Cessation, a placed filled with outlaws and debauchery. Pity’s skill with her guns offers her a chance at fame and fortune in her newfound home, but she soon learns that putting on a good performance in the theater is not all that will be expected of her. Her sense of luck and security quickly fade as she has to decide what price she is willing to pay for freedom. This is an action-packed, thrilling read in an exciting, genre-bending book. Ely introduces readers to a dystopian wild west that is brilliantly imagined. The characters are fully developed with authentic voices and purposeful interactions. While the story stays engaging through its multitude of action sequences, Pity’s character is difficult to consistently pull for and understand. Her personality and her actions do not always match, to the point that it feels like there are actually two different main characters instead of someone figuring out a different side of herself. Regardless, a plot full of surprises, temptation, betrayal, and, of course, shootouts will be a welcome addition to the dystopia bookshelf. Reviewer: Blake Norby; Ages 15 to 18.

VOYA, December 2017 (Vol. 40, No. 5) - Blake Norby

11/01/2017
Gr 8 Up—Serendipity "Pity" Jones has never been happy living on her agricultural commune in the dystopian Confederacy of North America, but the final straw is when her father sells her off as a "bridal bribe." She and her friend Finn flee the commune, heading for the city of Columbia. They don't make it far before Finn is killed by scroungers and Pity is picked up by a group of travelers from Cessation, the futuristic equivalent of a Wild West town. Known for having "no government, no morals, and no law," it is nonetheless under the strict control of a woman known only as Selene. At Selene's decree, Pity joins Halcyon Singh's Theatre Vespertine as a sharpshooter. Pity dreads this role and jumps at the opportunity to serve Selene in another way: She is asked to feign a romance with presidential candidate Patrick Sheridan in order to conceal the political schemes, which are the real reasons for his visits to Cessation. Meanwhile, Pity has formed an actual romance with Max, the set and costumes designer for the theatre. Ely's novel features an enormous cast of characters and numerous twists involving assassination plots and hidden identities. The world-building is thorough and the backstory is skillfully interwoven into the plot; however, the story is too complex to leave much room for much characterization, with the exception of the sharp-tongued protagonist. VERDICT An additional purchase with appeal for fans of speculative settings, such as those in Neal Shusterman's Unwind or Rachel Caine's "Great Library" trilogy.—Magdalena Teske, West Chicago Public Library District

School Library Journal

2017-10-01
Debut author Ely brings to life a gritty future American West, shattered by a Second Civil War, in which a sharpshooting teen must reconcile the conflicting pulls of security, justice, and conscience.Seventeen-year-old Serendipity "Pity" Jones runs away from an untenable situation in her Commune and finds herself in Cessation, where there is no law except that which exists in Casimir, part brothel, part gambling hall, part stronghold, and all the domain of the ruthless and golden-skinned Miss Selene. Pity's skills secure her a place in the Theatre Vespertine and a home with a new sort of family, but she still must contend with a guilt born out of a personal failure earlier in the story—and with the hard justice of the world she now finds herself in. There is violence here (on the page) and sex (off the page), but both serve a purpose. The first half of the book makes some familiar moves and makes them slowly, but the story gains steam and arrives at a satisfying ending. The lackluster love story also gets interesting in the second half, happily avoiding the usual tropes and even inverting a couple.A little Into the Badlands, a little Firefly, a whole lot to say about how right and wrong so often borrow from each other. (Dystopian Western. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews