Book 1: Adaptation

Finalist for the 2013 Lambda Literary Award (Children’s/Young Adult)

A Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of 2013

A Top 10 Selection of the 2013 Rainbow List

Reese can’t remember anything from the time between the accident and the day she woke up almost a month later. She only knows one thing: She’s different now.

Across North America, flocks of birds hurl themselves into airplanes, causing at least a dozen to crash. Thousands of people die. Fearing terrorism, the United States government grounds all flights, and millions of travelers are stranded.

Reese and her debate team partner and longtime crush David are in Arizona when it happens. Everyone knows the world will never be the same. On their drive home to San Francisco, along a stretch of empty highway at night in the middle of Nevada, a bird flies into their headlights. The car flips over. When they wake up in a military hospital, the doctor won’t tell them what happened, where they are—or how they’ve been miraculously healed.

Things become even stranger when Reese returns home. San Francisco feels like a different place with police enforcing curfew, hazmat teams collecting dead birds, and a strange presence that seems to be following her. When Reese unexpectedly collides with the beautiful Amber Gray, her search for the truth is forced in an entirely new direction—and threatens to expose a vast global conspiracy that the government has worked for decades to keep secret.

Adaptation is a bold contemporary science-fiction thriller from the acclaimed author of Ash.

Book 2: Inheritance

Winner of the 2014 Bisexual Book Awards for Bisexual Teen/Young Adult Fiction

The triangular spaceship hovered motionless in the sky above Reese Holloway’s house, as inscrutable as a black hole. It had seemed like a good idea when they were inside: to tell the truth about what happened to them at Area 51. It didn’t seem like such a good idea now.

Reese and David are not normal teens—not since they were adapted with alien DNA by the Imria, an extraterrestrial race that has been secretly visiting Earth for decades. Now everyone is trying to get to them: the government, the Imria, and a mysterious corporation that would do anything for the upper hand against the aliens.

Beyond the web of conspiracies, Reese can’t reconcile her love for David with her feelings for her ex-girlfriend Amber, an Imrian. But her choice between two worlds will play a critical role in determining the future of humanity, the Imria’s place in it, and the inheritance she and David will bring to the universe.

In this gripping sequel to Adaptation, Malinda Lo brings a thoughtful exploration of adolescence, sexuality, and “the other” to a science fiction thriller that is impossible to put down.

Ebook Companion Novella: Natural Selection

Before she met her girlfriend Reese, before she knew the role she would play in the fate of two worlds, Amber was a fifteen-year-old Imrian torn between two identities. Imrian by blood, Amber was forced to hide her true self to pass as human during the time she spent on earth. And even when she returns to Kurra, her human experiences, including first love and heartache, still separate her from her fellow Imrians. But when Amber undergoes kibila, a traditional Imrian coming-of-age ceremony during which Amber will choose her name and identity for the next fifteen years, she will be forced to either accept her role in both worlds or forge her own path.

Malinda Lo’s digital exclusive novella companion to Adaptation and Inheritance takes readers on a journey through Amber’s past, giving fans a glimpse into her life on Kurra and a deeper understanding of one of Adaptation’s most compelling characters.

 PRAISE

Adaptation

“Fast-paced and thoroughly engaging, with very effective stakes-raising and threat levels, this is a thrilling read.” — NPR

“This novel takes off like a shot. … Lo’s (Huntress) writing sparkles throughout, Reese’s efforts at self-acceptance after the accident are engaging, and the exciting ending will leave readers ready for the sequel.” — Publishers Weekly

“Reese and David find themselves caught in a web of conspiracies that shatter her world but would do the X-Files proud. The pace of this sci-fi thriller picks up even further as secrets of universal proportions are revealed just before a cliff-hanger ending. Sequel? Affirmative.” — Booklist

“Lo’s thriller, a fresh take on classic sci-fi tropes, matches quick plot turns with thoughtful exploration of Reese’s hesitantly emerging bisexuality in a subtle, yet powerful, play on the idea of being alien.” — School Library Journal

“Lo invokes a paranoid X-Files sensibility here, layering conspiracy atop conspiracy and balancing ambitious twists with nuanced relationships that are ultimately as important to the sci-fi plotting as they are to the character development. Reese’s vague sensory memories of her missing time are appropriately creepy, and they work well to set up the final revelation of what is really going on. Fans of Lo’s previous fantasies will appreciate her continued facility with mystery and atmosphere, and her satisfying twist on classic alien tropes is sure to attract some new admirers.” — The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Absolutely compelling … A sharp twist at the climax makes everything that happened before an even more satisfying puzzle to unravel. Readers interested in conspiracy theories will enjoy how many are sprinkled throughout, and any few who came in thinking our government would never hide information may leave feeling a bit more wary. ” — Horn Book

“The tension is relentless … Lo manages a diverse cast (Asian-American smart stud; gay conspiracy nut; debate nerd) without ever falling into stereotypes. … slot this on the shelf between Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother and The X-Files.” — Kirkus

“In this daring science-fiction thriller, Lo depicts a memorably frightening future.” — John DeNardo, Kirkus

“Lo moves into the territory of The X-Files without a hitch, crafting a well-developed character in Reese and making us believe her slow discovery that she is now part of something larger. All the twists and turns you’d expect from a good SF thriller are here, but they are deepened by how real (and how sensible) Reese’s character is, and by the fact that she realistically grapples as much with who she’s attracted to as with what’s happening to her on a larger level.” — Locus

“Suspenseful, girl-powered, contemporary science fiction full of realistically diverse characters making realistic contemporary use of technology— plus hot kissing—make this book hard to resist.” — VOYA

“Adaptation is one of those rare, unique birds in YA: a good, cool and geek-friendly sci-fi story featuring an extremely diverse cast of characters and a beautifully portrayed bisexual protagonist.” — The Book Smugglers

“The sense of play—of allusion, homage, and, forgive the pun, adaptation—with source materials like the typical “YA love triangle” and the conspiracy-SF narrative empire of The X-Files makes this book read almost like a love letter to genre, while it is at the same time clearly having a roaring good time fooling around with the things it’s built on. And, aside from the extra-narrative pleasures, it’s also a fairly enjoyable romp—romance, action, and teenagers being teenagers in bizarre situations kept my attention throughout. Lo’s prose is clear and straight-forward, which helps to move the plot along at a generally steady and occasionally break-neck pace while also immersing the reader in Reese’s experience of her world.” — Tor.com

“This is a story about solitude and emotional alienation, about how love transforms you (often against your will!), and about finding solace in unexpected places. … Lo…uses the genre of science fiction as a metaphorical tool, and she couldn’t have chosen more apt metaphors or more profound issues–sexual identity, emotional isolation, trust, and first loves–on which to use them.” — The Intergalactic Academy

“This was the first book I’d read in a long, long time that actually befit the name “page turner,” where the time flew by as the plot grew thicker and creepier, where the world it created inhabited my thoughts even when I wasn’t reading it. This book is exciting in so many different ways: aside from just being a thoroughly enjoyable and thrilling read, it’s one of the first sci-fi young adult novels I’ve ever read with such solid queer characters. The plot of this book is so engrossing that it won’t just be read by queer kids because it’s queer. Kids of all stripes will read this, and get an awesome queer perspective injected into their brains as a bonus. I feel like this could really propel Malinda Lo even further in her career than where she is now, and it would be completely well deserved.” — AfterEllen

“Reese, Amber, David — let me say this is one of my favorite love triangles in a YA book. Reese is attracted to both Amber and David; there are no good or bad guys. Yes, Reese likes boys and girls (well, at least one boy,  David, and one girl, Amber), and that’s another aspect about Adaptation. It’s multicultural and diverse, in a casual way, meaning it’s no big deal. It’s not a thing. The teens and adults in Adaptation are straight, bi, and gay; they are white, African American, Asian American. Except, it is a big deal to YA readers because too often the “default” for books is all white, all straight.” — A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

“A clever, fast-paced, romantic adventure chock full of unexpected twists and surprises.” — Holly Black, bestselling author of White Cat and The Spiderwick Chronicles

“Starts with a bang and doesn’t stop rocking, and has a sexy bad … girl.” — Sarah Rees Brennan, author of The Demon’s Lexicon series

“Adaptation will have you looking skyward and believing in conspiracies again.” — Cindy Pon, author of Silver Phoenix

Inheritance

“The inside look at the Imria, only peripherally understood in the previous novel, is intriguing—they are the stars here as much as Reese. … The graceful, thoughtful look at [spoiler redacted] is an unexpected twist, and for this reason alone readers may find Reese (and her ex- and new boyfriends) just as memorable as the clever plot and strong world-building that are the strengths of this novel.” — The Horn Book

“As in the first book, dialogue rings true, and the characters are appealing. … The alien and political machinations provide menace, a brisk page-turning plot and lots of fun.” — Kirkus

“In less than 500 pages, Malinda explores race relations, sexual fluidity, gender identity, Internet commenting culture, modern news media, and other really important topics I can’t talk about because of spoilers. And she does it all seamlessly. One of the big motifs of Inheritance is empathy, and the book itself is a prejudice-vanquisher for vastly underrepresented members of the queer community. I did a literal air-punch alone in my bedroom when I finished it.” — AfterEllen

“Inheritance, the sequel to Malinda Lo’s sci-fi thriller Adaptation, knows how to go out in style. … This book masterfully closed the door on this chapter of the series, but the possibilities are endless from this point forward—just like on graduation day. Maybe this series will come back into my life; maybe it won’t. While I’d love for it to return, this book had such a satisfying conclusion that I’d understand if it moved on. This is how endings for series books should be done. Heck, this is how endings for books, full stop, should be done. I’m happy just to know that the future is full of potential.” — Forever Young Adult

“Lo’s work on Inheritance and other YA illustrates that you can explore very complicated, mature subjects of gender, sexuality, and relationships without turning a book into a parade of Special Learning Experiences and Serious Moments. This isn’t an issue book, a gay and lesbian book, a queer book. It’s a book about people living their lives in the face of something truly extraordinary and amazing, it’s science fiction, and, oh yeah, it happens to include diverse characters. This is the way I love seeing diversity in YA done; not as an afterthought, not as a mission of the text, but as something thoroughly integrated into who the characters are and how the story is told, without pounding readers over the head with it.” — s.e. smith

“Fans of Adaptation will not be disappointed with the conclusion of Reese’s and Amber’s and David’s story. In fact, the tension in Inheritance becomes even more intense. The conspiracies spin out of control, the danger becomes real as both Reese and David experience violence from extremists on both sides who react exactly as imagined upon learning that beings from another world exist. And the love triangle between Reese, David and Amber is handled with such delicate care that the reader really can’t choose who to root for. Lo resolves the triangle in an unconventional way that will have fans either loving the resolution or hating it. I, in fact, loved it and thought it to be a brave choice by Lo.” — Rich in Color

PUBLISHERS

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers — U.S. and Canada

• Adaptation (2012)

• Inheritance (2013)

• Natural Selection (2013)

Hodder Children’s Books — U.K.

• Adaptation (2014)

• Inheritance (2014)

• Natural Selection (2014)

Tantor — Adaptation Audiobook (2021)