The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza
A Junior Library Guild Selection
“Surreal, brainy, and totally captivating.” —Booklist (starred review)
“Provocative and moving.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Hutchinson artfully blends the realistic and the surreal.” —School Library Journal (starred review)
From the critically acclaimed author of We Are the Ants and At the Edge of the Universe comes a mind-bending, riveting novel about a teen who was born to a virgin mother and realizes she has the power to heal—but that power comes at a huge cost.
Sixteen-year-old Elena Mendoza is the product of a virgin birth.
This can be scientifically explained (it’s called parthenogenesis), but what can’t be explained is how Elena is able to heal Freddie, the girl she’s had a crush on for years, from a gunshot wound in a Starbucks parking lot. Or why the boy who shot Freddie, David Combs, disappeared from the same parking lot minutes later after getting sucked up into the clouds. Other things that can’t be explained are the talking girl on the front of a tampon box, or the reasons that David Combs shot Freddie in the first place.
As more unbelievable things occur, and Elena continues to perform miracles, the only remaining explanation is the least logical of all—that the world is actually coming to an end, and Elena is possibly the only one who can do something about it.
“Surreal, brainy, and totally captivating.” —Booklist (starred review)
“Provocative and moving.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Hutchinson artfully blends the realistic and the surreal.” —School Library Journal (starred review)
From the critically acclaimed author of We Are the Ants and At the Edge of the Universe comes a mind-bending, riveting novel about a teen who was born to a virgin mother and realizes she has the power to heal—but that power comes at a huge cost.
Sixteen-year-old Elena Mendoza is the product of a virgin birth.
This can be scientifically explained (it’s called parthenogenesis), but what can’t be explained is how Elena is able to heal Freddie, the girl she’s had a crush on for years, from a gunshot wound in a Starbucks parking lot. Or why the boy who shot Freddie, David Combs, disappeared from the same parking lot minutes later after getting sucked up into the clouds. Other things that can’t be explained are the talking girl on the front of a tampon box, or the reasons that David Combs shot Freddie in the first place.
As more unbelievable things occur, and Elena continues to perform miracles, the only remaining explanation is the least logical of all—that the world is actually coming to an end, and Elena is possibly the only one who can do something about it.
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Community Reviews
I have a lot of opinions about this book. Some of them are good, while others are bad. I'll stick to what's really important:
Shaun David Hutchinson... HOW DARE YOU??!
438 pages of cosmic existential dread and a heavy narrative about compliance to the end of us as humans but by giving each one the choice instead of a higher power deciding for us? Who does that?? Only you, of course.
As about the narrative, it was a bit too repetitive and circling back to saying the same stuff over and over. I would like to have seen way more about things after what Elena did at the end, than David Combs this and parthenogenesis that, but HEY, who's complaining? Not me.
This story reminds me of another book I'll never forget said: Life is beautiful and life is stupid.
We can cling to the desire of wanting to understand what's the meaning of everything, or we can just go with the flow. Dance to the music. Kiss the girl. Don't listen to the voices in your head. Eat pie. That's only what matters at the end.
Shaun David Hutchinson... HOW DARE YOU??!
438 pages of cosmic existential dread and a heavy narrative about compliance to the end of us as humans but by giving each one the choice instead of a higher power deciding for us? Who does that?? Only you, of course.
As about the narrative, it was a bit too repetitive and circling back to saying the same stuff over and over. I would like to have seen way more about things after what Elena did at the end, than David Combs this and parthenogenesis that, but HEY, who's complaining? Not me.
This story reminds me of another book I'll never forget said: Life is beautiful and life is stupid.
We can cling to the desire of wanting to understand what's the meaning of everything, or we can just go with the flow. Dance to the music. Kiss the girl. Don't listen to the voices in your head. Eat pie. That's only what matters at the end.
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