Kitra

Stranded in space: no fuel, no way home…and no one coming to help.

Nineteen-year-old Kitra Yilmaz dreams of traveling the galaxy like her Ambassador mother. But soaring in her glider is the closest she can get to touching the stars–until she stakes her inheritance on a salvage Navy spaceship. On its shakedown cruise, Kitra’s ship plunges into hyperspace, stranding Kitra and her crew light years away.

Tensions rise between Kitra and her shipmates: the handsome programmer, Fareedh; Marta, biologist and Kitra’s ex-girlfriend; Peter, the panicking engineer, and the oddball alien navigator, Pinky.

Now, running low on air and food, it’ll take all of them working together to get back home.

Kitra, released at the height of the COVID lock-down, is a story of isolation, teamwork, and hope (amid an ocean of dystopian YA). It continues to be a hit – probably because it’s so spot-on, thematically. It stars a queer woman of color, and that has been a draw as well. Kitra was featured in bookshop.org’s newsletter in April 2021, a full year after its release – a testament to its endurance. The sequel, Sirena, will be published September 2021.