A Crack in the Sky

by Mark Peter Hughes

  So here’s the thing: while some elements of A Crack in the Sky were inspired by actual science and current theories, in the end it’s a work of fiction, and many of the details of Eli’s world came wholly from my imagination. The lumbering mutant that Marilyn stumbles across near a lake of toxic ooze, for example, is based on no climate change science I’m aware of. I just thought it would be creepy. As far as I know, there exist no imminent plans to build protective domes that enclose entire cities. I just like domes. And finally, as far as I know, animal neurobiologists are not, at this moment, secretly working on ways to boost the brains of small carnivorous mammals.

  But then, you never know.

  Here are some of the sources I used to learn about the climate change topics discussed here. For a more complete list of sources, check out my Web site at www.markpeterhughes.com.

  BOOKS

  Berne, Emma Carlson. Global Warming and Climate Change (Compact Research Series). San Diego: Referencepoint Press, 2007.

  Henson, Robert. The Rough Guide to Climate Change, 2nd Edition. London: Rough Guides, 2008.

  Lynas, Mark. High Tide: The Truth About Our Climate Crisis. New York: Picador, 2004.

  Speth, James Gustave. Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment, Second Edition. New Haven: Yale Nota Bene, 2005.

  INTERNET RESEARCH

  “Climate Change—Science, State of Knowledge: What’s Known, What’s Very Likely, What’s Not Certain.” United States Environmental Protection Agency.

  http://epa.gov/climatechange/science/stateofknowledge.html

  “Global Warming: Frequently Asked Questions.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

  http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

  “IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007.” Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

  http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/contents.html

  “Ocean Acidification: The Other CO2 Problem.” Henderson, Caspar. August 5, 2006. NewScientist.

  http://environment.newscientist.com/article/mg19125631.200

  INTERVIEW

  Dr. Julio Friedmann, PhD, Carbon Management Program Leader, Energy & Environmental Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA.

  SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

  Cherry, Lynne, and Braasch, Gary. How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming. Nevada City, CA: Dawn Publications, 2008.

  David, Laurie, and Gordon, Cambria. Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming. New York: Orchard Books, 2007.

  Evans, Kate. Weird Weather: Everything You Didn’t Want to Know About Climate Change but Probably Should Find Out. Toronto: Groundwood Books, 2007.

  Flannery, Tim, adapted by Sally M. Walker. We Are the Weather Makers: The History of Climate Change. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2009.

  Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming. New York: Viking Children’s Books, 2007.

  Haugen, David; Musser, Sandra; Lovelace, Kacy, eds. Global Warming (Opposing Viewpoints). Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2010.

  Nardo, Don. Climate Crisis: The Science of Global Warming (Headline Science). Mankato, MN: Compass Point Books, 2008.

  Sommers, Michael, A. Antarctic Melting: The Disappearing Antarctic Ice Cap. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 2007.

  For even more information about the science of climate change, check out these Web sites:

  epa.gov/climatechange/kids/index.html

  Climate change information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

  climate.nasa.gov/ClimateReel/

  Videos and visualizations of climate change from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

  pewclimate.org/global-warming-basics/kidspage.cfm

  Information from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  A sincere thank-you goes to my amazing editor, Stephanie Lane Elliott, and to all the people at Random House who helped put this book together, especially Beverly Horowitz, Chip Gibson, Krista Vitola, Trish Parcell, Tamar Schwartz, Natalia Dextre, Colleen Fellingham and Barbara Perris, Katharine Gehron, Emily Pourciau, Annette Szlachta, Per Haagensen, Joe LeMonnier, and all the wonderful people on the sales and marketing team whose early feedback was so helpful. I’m indebted also to the following for their assistance and support: Andy McNicol, the Commando Writers (Michael A. Di Battista, Peter DiIanni, Scott Fitts, Geoffrey H. Goodwin, Dalia Rabinovich, John Smith and Abby Walsh), J. L. Bell, Dr. Jean Brown, Greg R. Fishbone, Susan Green, Michael Healey, Carolyn Hughes, Jennifer Hughes, Shauna Leggat, Kevin McGurn, Tucker Moody, Alison Morris, Claudia Sorsby, John Winnell, Ana Wons, and Janet Zade. My son, Evan, deserves a special thank-you for providing his thoughtful insights. For some of the climate change information used in this book, I am grateful for the assistance of Dr. Julio Friedmann, whose expertise in climate change science helped lay a factual foundation on which I took many liberties to create this work of fiction. For all those liberties, the blame is entirely mine.

  Most of all, I want to acknowledge Evan, Lucy, and Zoe, and especially Karen, my first reader and best friend. Les quiero con todo mi corazón.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Mark Peter Hughes was born in Liverpool, England, and grew up in Barrington, Rhode Island.

  Mark Peter Hughes’s first novel, I Am the Wallpaper, was a Children’s Book Sense 76 Summer Pick and a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. His second, Lemonade Mouth, was a Book Sense Children’s Spring Pick, a Richie’s Pick, a Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year (Outstanding Merit), an ASTAL Rhode Island Book of the Year Award winner, and a Boston Authors Club Award finalist.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2010 by Mark Peter Hughes

  Map and diagram © Joe Lemonnier

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

  Visit us on the Web! www.randomhouse.com/kids

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  visit us at www.randomhouse.com/teachers

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Hughes, Mark Peter.

  A crack in the sky / by Mark Peter Hughes — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary: In a post-apocalyptic world, thirteen-year-old Eli, part of the

  most powerful family in the world, keeps noticing problems with the operations

  of his domed city but his family denies them, while in the surrounding desert,

  the Outsiders struggle to survive while awaiting a prophesied savior.

  eISBN: 978-0-375-89670-5

  [1. Science fiction. 2. Survival—Fiction. 3. Family life—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.H8736113Wil 2010

  [Fic]—dc22 2009043532

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

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