Earth Girl by Janet Edwards

Author: Janet Edwards
Title: Earth Girl
Series: Earth Girl #1
Publication: March 5, 2013
Publisher: PYR
Genre: Sci-Fi, Dystopia
Source: Publisher

Synopsis from Goodreads
2788. Only the handicapped live on Earth. Eighteen-year-old Jarra is among the one in a thousand people born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Sent to Earth at birth to save her life, she has been abandoned by her parents. She can’t travel to other worlds, but she can watch their vids, and she knows all the jokes they make. She’s an “ape,” a “throwback,” but this is one ape girl who won’t give in.
Jarra makes up a fake military background for herself and joins a class of norms who are on Earth for a year of practical history studies excavating the dangerous ruins of the old cities. She wants to see their faces when they find out they’ve been fooled into thinking an ape girl was a norm. She isn’t expecting to make friends with the enemy, to risk her life to save norms, or to fall in love.

Jarra's confined to living on Earth for the rest of her life, left by parents that didn't want her, she hopes that someday that will change. She's grown up with other children like her and they each have a Pro-Mom and Dad that take care of them and give them the attention they need. In Jarra's case, her Pro-Mom is fierce about her and when there is something she needs, Pro-Mom makes a way. So, when Jarra decides to attend a history school for non-earth students to prove a point, she is at first hesitant but supports her completely. Jarra loves history and she's overly eager to begin excavating but she must prove to her instructor that she's capable and serious about the course. This instructor knows about her but can't say anything about because of the stipulations placed in her student file. This doesn't stop him from putting her on the spot in class asking multiple questions and requesting she prove her knowledge to make her slip up. He doesn't realize that Jarra's very serious about her new role and he soon learns how much. 

What begins as a trick soon turns into something more real as Jarra begins to see the norms differently and maybe she discovers her own prejudices against them are no better than theirs against "apes" but she never expects to feel for any of them. How can she complete her mission, if she doesn't see them as the "enemy" but something entirely unexpected? Jarra takes this journey and opens up new possibilities for herself and learns that maybe the lie is closer to the truth than she could ever imagine. There is a little romance but it's not the main focus but Jarra's pursued by a few boys but doesn't want to get too close because of her farce but love maybe hard for her to pass up. Overall, I liked this book and am curious about what's next for Jarra. I recommend this book if you are looking for a futuristic sci-fi novel with a dystopian feel to it. 

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