HIVE

In a world that shouldn't exist, lives a girl who doesn't belong.

It's the year 2120 and fifteen-year-old Hayley is a beekeeper in an underwater seed vault where people came 100 years earlier seeking shelter from an asteroid. Seeking relief for her headaches, Hayley trespasses where she shouldn't. She sneaks into the engine house to hide in the unused corridor, the only place in the world that gives her comfort from her headaches, a worrying symptom of madness. It's there she hears the drip. A drip of water from the ceiling? It doesn't make sense. In this world, water only comes from the source, from God. Everybody knows that. And yet the drip is real. She hears it, catches it. Tastes it. Why would salt water drip from a ceiling of a corridor? Curiosity is a hook. What starts as a drip leads to a lie, a death, a boy, a beast, and too many awful questions. As Hayley uncovers more secrets, she learns there are greater fears than madness. Her world will never be the same. AJ BETTS is the award-winning author of three YA novels (Zac & Mia, Wavelength, Shutterspeed). Zac & Mia (Text Publishing, 2013) won the Text Prize for YA writing, the Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature (NSW Premier's Award), the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, and was published in 12 countries. AJ recently completed her PhD in 'wonder' in young adult fiction. She works at Princess Margaret Hospital as an English teacher. She is a popular presenter at festivals and schools, combining her passion for creativity, story, and education. She lives in Perth by the beach.