On the Edge of Gone

Denise, a sixteen-year-old biracial autistic girl, finds herself responsible for her family—her drug-addicted mother and her missing sister—as a comet is about to strike Earth. Denise and her mom are in a temporary shelter where they will risk death in the post-apocalyptic world or she can try and get them on a generation ship that will leave Earth, but spots are only for those who are useful and Denise wonders how she will prove her mother and her autistic self as useful. This fast-paced, engaging novel can be used as a literature circle selection to explore complex issues about humanity and could be added to a school library’s science fiction/post-apocalyptic, LSBTQIA2S+, or able/disable collections.