âA stellar futuristic tale with an exemplary heroine.â
âKirkus Reviews
âIGIST could be described as perhaps Star Wars meets Harry Potter.â
âLeah Day Smith, 7th Grade Teacher, Pleasant Grove Jr. High
âMy son texted me from school during the day to tell me how much he loved the book!â
âScience in the City
In the not-so-distant future when humanity has colonized the solar system, orbiting the moon is a space academy called IGIST (Intergalactic Institute of Science and Technology; pronounced âeye-gistâ) that embodies a simple ethos: No matter what problems we face an idea can prevail.
A young girl named Emi dreams of escaping the plague-ravaged Earth, attending the elite IGIST, and becoming a great scientist. Against all odds, she makes it into space and with a colorful cast of misfits, Martians, and scouts, races against the clock to create an antidote for the deadly amoebic monster, that is the plague.
Plus, download the IGIST app on iOS to bring the black and white illustrations in the book to life as animations appearing in Augmented Reality, in addition to other awesome features! The IGIST app will also be available on Android platforms on April 20th, 2019.
âA stellar futuristic tale with an exemplary heroine.â
âKirkus Reviews
âIGIST could be described as perhaps Star Wars meets Harry Potter.â
âLeah Day Smith, 7th Grade Teacher, Pleasant Grove Jr. High
âMy son texted me from school during the day to tell me how much he loved the book!â
âScience in the City
In the not-so-distant future when humanity has colonized the solar system, orbiting the moon is a space academy called IGIST (Intergalactic Institute of Science and Technology; pronounced âeye-gistâ) that embodies a simple ethos: No matter what problems we face an idea can prevail.
A young girl named Emi dreams of escaping the plague-ravaged Earth, attending the elite IGIST, and becoming a great scientist. Against all odds, she makes it into space and with a colorful cast of misfits, Martians, and scouts, races against the clock to create an antidote for the deadly amoebic monster, that is the plague.
Plus, download the IGIST app on iOS to bring the black and white illustrations in the book to life as animations appearing in Augmented Reality, in addition to other awesome features! The IGIST app will also be available on Android platforms on April 20th, 2019.
It had been fifty-four days since Emi submitted her application. Her mother had always hoped that Emi would one day attend IGIST, the Intergalactic Institute of Science and Technology. Every day that passed with her waiting to hear back about her admission became more and more unbearable.
The admission notification was legendary. If selected, the student would receive a miniature model of the space station. The model displayed a hologram image of the chancellor with a personalized message.
More than anything, she wanted to receive that notification. Emi was confident the package would be waiting when she got home, but first she had to endure a day of school at Rockland. Today was the last day that a model would arrive if sheâd been accepted.
***
The teacher listed off the students as their names appeared on a leaderboard. He was old and gaunt with warm eyes. Although it seemed cruel to rank each student based upon secondary school, the list was a Rockland tradition. Mr. Lemore beamed with pride as he announced the placement of his students at top schools on Earth.
Two-thirds of Emiâs class was already placed, leaving only the bottom group. She stared at her name near the bottom of the list with no school beside it. The lower her name fell, the smaller she felt. She never thought her name might end up in last place. Emi watched Mr. Lemore walk to the leaderboard. Several students snickered about the six names still not placed.
Mr. Lemore rattled off five placements. Now only one student did not have a school listed on the leaderboard. All eyes in the class turned to Emi. It was official: her name sat at the bottom of the list in the dreaded anchor position. She wished she could climb under a rock and disappear; she felt as small as a speck of dust. Several students whispered her name under their breath. The tone in the air had shifted from elementary meanness to one of universal pity.
There was a certain irony in less intelligent pupils calling Emi stupid. She didnât hate the other kids. She felt sorry for them. They would all be bygones. A few might make it to space, but the majority of her peers were destined to lead boring lives stuck on Earth. Emiâs ambitions included getting off the planet.
Emi looked out the window. Usually an orangish-gray smog hung over the dreary city, making it hard to see the sky. Today a strong wind had opened up the clouds, creating a blue and orange sky-canyon that framed the moon and the space station.
Earlier that day she had read about solar-sailing: students of IGIST would sail between the moon and the space station, using the sunâs light to propel them through space. She desperately wanted to be up in space and wondered how small Earth would look from the stars.
âEmi?â
Snapping out of her daydream, Emi noticed her peers filing out of the classroom.
âCome sit,â said Mr. Lemore.
She sat down near him, their two chairs facing each other. Emi had always liked her eighth-grade math teacher. She assumed the girl in the picture on his desk was his daughter. There were rumors she had dropped out of school.
âYou must pick a school,â Mr. Lemore said. âYouâve received several acceptances. You are at risk of losing your spot if you donât choose one. Franklin, Verity, even your safeties fill up fast. Iâd hate for you to end up out of the school system. Here, Iâve prepared this packet for you to review.â
On the wall behind him hung a Legion poster. In the picture a teenager grimaced, wearing a drab gray jumpsuit and sitting behind a screen. For students who didnât have the grades to go to a secondary school, a tiny percentage would go into a government work program known as the Legion. The program used to train people in trades, but since the automation era, it had devolved into a forced work program. Legion members wore caps to keep themselves focused on the monotonous tasks required.
âIâve already picked IGIST.â
Mr. Lemore moved his chair closer to her and lowered his voice in a sympathetic tone. Emi could tell by the look in his eyes he cared about her.
âEmi, weâve been over this. There are a million reasons you canât go to IGIST.â He paused for a moment and looked back at the picture on his desk. He continued balancing a tone between parental sternness and sincere affection.
âThere are countless odds stacked against you. In twenty years IGIST hasnât issued a single acceptance to someone on Earth. Itâs too expensive to get to space. Youâd most likely get dropped from the probo screening. Iâm not saying that youâre not smart enough, but the reality is that you just didnât get accepted. Weâre running out of time, Emi. You must consider the alternatives.â
Emi told herself to stay confident. After all, her parents raised her to be strong. âI should hear back today,â she informed her teacher.
IGISTâs premise alone was enough to grab my attention, but more than just a good story and characters, this book has a one-of-a-kind feature⌠It has an accompanying AR app. Thatâs right. You can watch this book come to life with Augmented Reality (like SnapChat filters) and turn your black and white illustrations into moving, colorful images on your phone!
Tech and gadgets are some of my favorite things and if I was rating the book on how well done and cool the app is alone, it would get a solid 5 out of 5 stars before I even opened the book. The graphics are absolutely incredible, the fun âsputniksâ that jump out at you while youâre reading, and the holographic features genuinely make this book an immersive novel. There are many more features that I could list here, but my recommendation is to just jump on the IGIST bandwagon!
As for the book itself, it will receive 4 out of 5 stars. The storyline is certainly interesting to say the very least. There are plenty of characters to get to know, it is void of any cursing and sexual content. All things that really pleased me. However, it seems to teeter on the line between middle grade fiction and young adult fiction very often, and what I mean by that is, a lot of the story seems a little too young for advanced readers, but the content and vocabulary is incredibly advanced for middle graders. I think IGIST has many things to please both audiences, but there is that chance that some middle graders wonât understand the tech/science scenes at all, and some young adult readers wonât be impressed with the shorter scenes and less descriptive details.
There is some action present, mentions of blood, as well as a character that partakes in gambling and some activity that is considered âillegalâ in the world of IGIST.
Overall, IGIST is a universe that is worthy of a fanclub, and believe me when I say that it has so much potential. I do plan on following this up and rising immersive novel and if you have a science fiction nut in your family, they definitely need to give this experience a shot.
I received this book from the author via Reedsy for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.
This is a LiteratureApproved.com Review.