Backwater. My Path

A continuation of the story of the strange world called “Zaholustye,” where an ordinary schoolgirl, Vika, ends up. Here, human emotions are still the main resource for the residents who get warmth and light from screens. In Zaholustye, Vika has a nickname—Smoke—and she is a donor. Her emotions are still a commodity: the reason for quarrels and the most desirable profit for troublemakers. In this world, any close friend can suddenly turn into an enemy—and vice versa. But the key is: all of this has its own explanation, and the strange world has its own secret that Vika must uncover. To understand who she is and what real life means to her—the one with mom, dad, a dog named Meloch, school friends, and everything that surrounded her before she became a donor to Zaholustye.
Larisa Romanovskaya is the author of teen novels and stories, winner of the “New Children’s Book” contest, a four-time finalist and a laureate of the “Knyguru” (Book Guru) award. The first book in the “Zaholustye. While I’m Here” cycle won the “Alice” prize as the best science-fiction work for children and adolescents.