In this "impressive debut" from award-winning speculative fiction author Nalo Hopkinson, a young woman must solve the tragic mystery surrounding her family and bargain with the gods to save her city and herself. ( The Washington Post ) The rich and privileged have fled the city, barricaded it behind roadblocks, and left it to crumble. The inner city has had to rediscover old ways -- farming, barter, herb lore. But now the monied need a harvest of bodies, and so they prey upon the helpless of the streets. With nowhere to turn, a young woman must open herself to ancient truths, eternal powers, and the tragic mystery surrounding her mother and grandmother. She must bargain with gods, and give birth to new legends. This is Nalo Hopkinson's debut novel, which came to attention when it won the Warner Aspect First Novel Contest. It tells the story of Ti-Jeanne, a young woman in a near-future Toronto that's been all but abandoned by the Canadian government. Anyone who can has retreated from the chaos of the city to the relative safety of the suburbs, and those left in "the burn" must fend for themselves. Ti-Jeanne is a new mother who's trying to come to grips with her as- yet-unnamed baby and also trying to end her relationship with her drug-addict boyfriend Tony. But a passion still burns between the young lovers, and when Tony runs afoul of Rudy, the local ganglord, Ti-Jeanne convinces her grandmother Gros-Jeanne to help out. Gros-Jeanne is a Voudoun priestess, and it's clear that Ti-Jeanne has inherited some of her gifts. Although Ti-Jeanne wants nothing to do with the spirit world, she soon finds herself caught up in a battle to the death with Rudy and the mother she thought she lost long ago. --Craig E. Engler YA-An outstanding science-fiction novel by a Jamaican-born novelist. The setting is post-modern Toronto. The inner city's economic base has collapsed; the police and most of civilization have deserted and roadblocked the city, leaving the homeless, poor, and criminals behind. The heroine, Ti-Jeanne, and her infant son live with her grandmother on a small herbal "farm" from which they dispense folk-medicine treatments to the other disenfranchised inhabitants of the "Burn." The story combines African and Jamaican folklore, religion, and patois as Ti-Jeanne learns to understand the ancient spirits that are so important in her family's history. The tragedies of her mother and grandmother must be understood and corrected, and only Ti-Jeanne can do it, if she can face her own fears. A page-turner that builds to an exciting conclusion, this quickly read fantasy will have lots of appeal to young adults. Carol DeAngelo, Garcia Consulting Inc., EPA Headquarters, Washington, DC Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. In the ruined core of downtown 21st-century Toronto, a girl reluctantly embraces her heritage of spirit magic to save the lives of her child and her lover from a gang leader's evil sorcery. Hopkinson, winner of the Warner Aspect First Novel Contest for this work, draws upon Afro-Caribbean myths to provide a rich, evocative background for a classic tale of salvation and sacrifice. Smoothly written, with memorable characters, this top-quality debut belongs in most libraries. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. Toronto's economy has collapsed, and those who couldn't flee with big business must farm in parks, hunt pigeons and squirrels for meat, and avoid the Posse, the gang that controls the streets. Ti-Jeanne Baines lives with her grandmother, learning to make herbal medicines and raising her child, conceived in an affair with a former medical intern fired from the local hospital because of drug addiction. Ti-Jeanne fired Tony, too, because of his addiction and his involvement with the Posse. But when he comes, swearing his intent to quit the Posse and leave the city, to ask her help, Ti-Jeanne in turn asks her voodoo-practicing grandmother to help Tony escape before the Posse kills him for defecting. Unwittingly, Tony then involves Ti-Jeanne in his predicament, forcing her to come to terms with her spiritual heritage to defend herself and her child. Winner of the first Warner Aspect First Novel Contest for new sf and fantasy writers, Jamaican-born Hopkinson's exotically imaginative debut is just realistic enough. Bonnie Johnston Winner of the publisher's First Novel Contest (out of nearly 1,000 entries), Hopkinson's debut evokes Afro-Caribbean magic against a near-future Toronto damaged by riots and neglect and abandoned by all but the most desperate inhabitants. The inner city is run by ruthless gangster Rudy Sheldon and his ``posse.'' Ti-Jeanne Hunter lives with her herbalist grandmother, Mami, and her unnamed child (by Tony, one of Rudy's mob). Weak, untrustworthy Tony was fired from his hospital job because of his drug addiction. Now, Canada's premier, Catharine Uttley, has an ailing heart, and, for overwhelming political reasons, any replacement organ must come from a human