Damselfly 12+

About this book

Their survival is in their own hands...

Samantha Mishra opens her eyes and discovers she's alone and injured in the thick of a jungle. She has no idea where she is, or what happened to the plane taking her and the rest of the Drake Rosemont fencing team across the Pacific for a tournament. Once Sam connects with her best friend, Mel, and they find the others, they set up shelter and hope for rescue. But as the days pass, the teens realize they're on their own, stranded on an island with a mysterious presence that taunts and threatens them. Soon Sam and her companions discover they need to survive more than the jungle... they need to survive each other.

This taut novel, with a setting evocative of Lord of the Flies, is by turns cinematic and intimate, and always thought-provoking.

Reviews

"Prasad's [YA] debut is a compelling modern-day adventure... An entertaining choice." -- School Library Journal

"Ethics balance on a knife's edge as the characters make difficult choices and adapt to their new reality... A compulsive read." -- Booklist

"Unseen antagonists and unpredictable plot twists... create a layer of mystery that'll have readers invested until the intriguingly inconclusive end... A fast-paced, heart-stopping tale." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Prasad deftly builds on familiar themes while also exploring issues like race, mental health, and the toxicity of teenage queen bees... A fun and compelling novel, one that is sure to attract a wide range of readers." -- School Library Connection

"Prasad deftly builds on familiar themes while also exploring issues like race, mental health, and the toxicity of teenage queen bees... A fun and compelling novel, one that is sure to attract a wide range of readers." -- School Library Connection

"Chandra Prasad gives us a terrifying, modern-day Lord of the Flies, rendered in exquisite and exacting prose. A brave take on teen cruelty, identity, mixed race experience, class, and survival." -- Marina Budhos, author of Ask Me No Questions

"Who are we when we are only accountable to ourselves? This bold, deft novel exposes how fragile the world we inhabit really is and what it might take for us to survive." -- Neela Vaswani, co-author of Same Sun Here

"Prasad breathes fresh life into this fusion of Lost, Prep, Gossip Girl, and William Golding's classic." -- Jake Halpern, author of Fame Junkies and Dormia