Fledgling is the story of Theo Waitley, an "accident-prone" teenager in a highly-regulated academic society. It seems, at first, to be only a typical growing-up story. But then she discovers unusual error messages on her home computer console that is now hooked into the main academic net. She thinks it's a fluke, but then her mother finds that someone has tampered with the basic historic documents upon which most of the planet's research depends. Someone high-up in the faculty has been condoning such fraud--but why? And why try to injure and defame her father--even though he is from off-world? During an inter-planet journey, Theo discovers that her awkwardness at home transforms into an unusual "dancing" skill. She is naturally able to anticipate trajectories of bodies (humans or objects) to prevent disastrous collisions. This brings her to the attention of the Pilot Guild which supplies navigators for spaceships. So...by the middle of the book we are dealing with at least three viewpoints and certainly that many mysterious plots. Breezily written, the characters are well depicted and (mostly) likeable and the storylines are eminently logical, although not obvious.
Submitted by Leah @ Wisconsin Talking Book & Braille Library
