Gunslinger Girl

Gr 8 Up—Serendipity "Pity" Jones has never been happy living on her agricultural commune in the dystopian Confederacy of North America, but the final straw is when her father sells her off as a "bridal bribe." She and her friend Finn flee the commune, heading for the city of Columbia. They don't make it far before Finn is killed by scroungers and Pity is picked up by a group of travelers from Cessation, the futuristic equivalent of a Wild West town. Known for having "no government, no morals, and no law," it is nonetheless under the strict control of a woman known only as Selene. At Selene's decree, Pity joins Halcyon Singh's Theatre Vespertine as a sharpshooter. Pity dreads this role and jumps at the opportunity to serve Selene in another way: She is asked to feign a romance with presidential candidate Patrick Sheridan in order to conceal the political schemes, which are the real reasons for his visits to Cessation. Meanwhile, Pity has formed an actual romance with Max, the set and costumes designer for the theatre. Ely's novel features an enormous cast of characters and numerous twists involving assassination plots and hidden identities. The world-building is thorough and the backstory is skillfully interwoven into the plot; however, the story is too complex to leave much room for much characterization, with the exception of the sharp-tongued protagonist.