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The Neptune Project
by Polly Holyoke
With her weak eyes and useless lungs that often leave her gasping for air, Nere feels more at home swimming with the dolphins her mother studies than she does hanging out with her classmates. Nere has never understood why she is so much more comfortable and confident in the water than on land until the day she learns the shocking truth—she is one of a group of kids who have been genetically altered to survive in the ocean. These products of the "Neptune Project" are supposed to build a better future under the waves, safe from the terrible famines and wars and that rock the surface world.
But there are some big challenges ahead of her: no one ever asked Nere if she wanted to be part of a science experiment; the other Neptune kids aren't exactly the friendliest bunch, and in order to reach the safe haven of the new Neptune colony, Nere and her fellow mutates must swim across hundreds of miles of dangerous ocean, relying on their wits, their loyal dolphins and one another to evade terrifying undersea creatures and a government that will stop at nothing to capture the Neptune kids ... dead or alive.
Fierce battle and daring escapes abound as Nere and her friend race to safety in this action-packed marine adventure.
Genre: MG/YA, Dystopia, Fantasy
Publisher: Disney/Hyperion
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Purchase: Amazon / B&N / Kobo
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Polly Holyoke on Writing Under the Sea
I’ve always been fascinated by the sea. I loved a Japanese anime cartoon called Marine Boy when I was little, and I played dolphin and mermaid by the hour in our neighborhood pool. My husband and I took up scuba diving in our twenties, and that’s when I started to learn first hand about the amazing world under the waves.
I’ve also been worried about the way we’ve been polluting our planet. At the rate we’ve been ruining our land, it just makes sense to me that some day we may have to colonize the oceans which cover 5/6ths of our planet.
Doing research for The Neptune Project was great fun. I’m a total nerd, so I was happy reading tons of books on oceanography in general and dolphins in particular. I also interviewed dolphin trainers, marine biologists and scuba dive masters. Of course, the best research of all was swimming with dolphins. I went swimming with domesticated dolphins in Florida and snorkeled with wild spinner dolphins in Hawaii. Both were amazing experiences.
The hardest part of researching The Neptune Project was learning more about genetics. I’m actually a history teacher by training, and I never took high school or college biology. I had to go back to basics and study up on meiosis and mitosis. I think I’m the only mom in the carpool line with a copy of Genetics for Dummies (yes, there actually is such a book!) in my car.
The Neptune Project was so much fun to write, it almost wrote itself. Once I had the research mostly finished, the main body of the book only took me four months to complete. On days I wrote big action scenes like the giant squid fight, I often cranked out ten pages or more.
I hope Disney Hyperion ends up buying the whole Neptune trilogy. I’d love to dive back into Nere’s underwater world again!
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Polly Holyoke has been imagining stories since she was in fifth grade. When she isn’t writing, Polly loves reading, camping, skiing, scuba diving and hiking in the desert (where she quite stupidly got herself bitten by a rattlesnake). She lives with three rescue dogs, two spoiled cats and a nice husband who is tolerant about the piles of books all over their house. Her debut middlegrade novel, THE NEPTUNE PROJECT, is the story of a young girl leading a group of genetically altered teens fighting to survive in the sea. She is thrilled that this novel will be published by Disney/Hyperion and Puffin Books UK summer, 2013. She thinks the best part about being an author is going to work in her sweatpants and getting paid for daydreaming!
You can find Polly here:
Website / Facebook / Twitter
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I'd just like to thank Polly Holyoke for being a guest on my blog today and Shane at IFB for hosting this wonderful tour!
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