Girl from Ganymede

Book excerpt: Xelena Xutu's family are moon people who fled Ganymede when she was young. From a young age, her dream was to design spaceships. As she grows up in the palace of Galactic X, the planetary superpower Ganymede orbits, her traditionalist mother tries to teach her Ganymedeni cultural values. While the king of Galactic X is fond of Xelena and her family, the other royals see moon people as lesser beings that threaten the planet's security. When Xelena is thirteen years old, she is kidnapped by Ganymede's ruler and subjected to a ritual that fuses her soul with the spirit of an ancient Ganymedeni overlord known only to her as the Voice. After this tragic incident and increased hatred from Galactic X's royals, Xelena's father smuggles the family to Divercity, a rival planetary superpower known for its advanced technology and acceptance of different races, so that she may live out her dreams. Eight years later, Xelena has abandoned her dream of shipbuilding in order to provide for her aging, sickly mother while living up to her cultural expectations in Divercity's fast-paced climate. She attracts the lustful eye of Romeo Caesarean, a powerful member of Divercity's elites whose advances drag her into Divercity's political sphere. As Xelena navigates Divercity's social classes in search of medical treatment for her mother, she discovers that Divercity isn't as welcoming as it seems. A moon girl from Ganymede struggles to succeed in Divercity. Making matters worse, the Voice has manifested as a split personality disorder within Xelena, causing a mental tug-of-war on who she is. Now Xelena must decide how far she is willing to push the limits of her own identity, culture, and dreams to save her mother's life.