Elevensies Spotted: Beth Revis + Across the Universe

I know I've been bad. I haven't posted any review yet! But they're already drafted! I will post some more tomorrow or maybe later when I get home...But right now, let's focus on today. Today is the book birthday of Across the Universe by Beth Revis! It’s just right to post about her and her fascinating debut on this special day! I spotted Beth sometime last year. Here it is:

What or who inspired you to write Across the Universe?

I came up with the idea of the end of the story first. I think that end came from a lifelong of loving Agatha Christie (particularly THE MOUSETRAP) and having been recently surprised by the end of Megan Whalen Turner's novel THE THIEF. I'm definitely a writer inspired by reading.

What lessons will readers pick up from your novel?

I didn't set out for there to be any lessons at all when I wrote the novel, but I think some people might learn the same things my characters learn over the course of the novel: sometimes, you can't rely on others to save you from terrible things, and if you have nothing else, you should at least have hope.

  

Why write for teens?

Because teen literature isn't about writing for teens at all. The age label is superfluous. YA isn't a reading level, it's a genre in and of itself that stresses interesting characters and a cool plot over symbolism and boring imagery.

What did you focus on in Across the Universe?

I just tried to focus on making an interesting story using beautiful language!

What makes your novel stand out?

It's one of the few YA space sci fi novels out there. Other than ENDER'S GAME and a handful of others, there simply isn't that much space sci fi on the market.

Describe writing Across the Universe in a haiku. (You can skip this, if it's a bit inappropriate)

A girl wakes early

On a ship flying through stars.

Who can she trust there?

Which part was more enjoyable to write? beginning, middle or end? Why?

The end! I knew the end before I knew anything else about the story, and it was so much fun to finally get there.

Someone said that sci-fi reflects, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the concerns of out present society. In Across the Universe, was there a particular concern that was reflected? Why was this reflected?

I think the idea of government control is brought up as a reflection of modern society. We seem more and more willing to hand over control of our lives to the government in return for "protection." But what if we can't trust the government?

Any last words?

Thank you for having me!

Thank you, Beth! Across the Universe is out n.o.w. Go get a copy!

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A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.