Young adult novel heart pounding, warming for all ages

Laparoscopic surgery is a wonderful, minimally invasive method of operating on a patient. But when your patient's 700 feet long, even a small incision can have large consequences. In this case, as we discover in Christian Schoon's wonderful new young adult novel, “Zenn Scarlett,” the best way to proceed is to put the doctor in a pod, cover the pod with a tasty paste and ask the patient to swallow it.

Is this dangerous? Certainly. But in some cases it's necessary to save a life.

Zenn Scarlett, the fiery 17-year-old protagonist, lives on Mars and has grown up in a secluded cloister surrounded by exotic animals in need of care. When her mother dies performing one of these dangerous pod procedures, Zenn is undeterred and continues her quest to pursue the family trade of exoveterinary medicine.

In addition to completing her competitive exams, Zenn also must deal with the citizens of Mars who think helping animals is a waste of time and resources. Plus, there's that cute boy, Liam, who keeps hanging around the cloister. Are his intentions sincere, or is there another reason he's getting close to Zenn?

“Zenn Scarlett” is a heart-pounding, heartwarming novel about facing your fears and learning how to have faith in your own abilities - no matter how young or different you may be. Schoon's episodic writing style works brilliantly in this complex world and all his characters - from Zenn to her loyal sidekick, Hamish - are equally complex, giving readers sure footholds when placed in unfamiliar terrain.

The only thing that could possibly make “Zenn Scarlett” better would be a few simple line drawings. Not because we need them, but because line drawings give a book a classic feel - and “Zenn Scarlett” is certainly on its way to becoming just that.