In the June issue, Q&Q books for young people editor Dory Cerny shares some highlights from the fall season’s most-anticipated books.

Space odyssey: Megan Crewe 
Toronto author Megan Crewe recently wrapped her Fallen Worlds series, a smart, action-packed dystopian YA trilogy that features one girl’s quest to find a cure for a deadly pandemic. For Earth & Sky ($18.99 cl.), the first book in a new trilogy coming in November from Razorbill Canada, Crewe decided to explore themes from a bit farther afield. “I’ve been a big science fiction fan all my life,” says Crewe, “and I find the ideas of people from other solar systems, space travel, and time travel fascinating.” All of those elements are incorporated into Crewe’s story of high-school student Skylar, who has always felt things around her were somehow “off.” With the help of a young man named Win, she discovers that her feelings are justified. Win is part of an alien race that has been performing experiments on Earth, but he is also one of the good guys, joining Skylar in her mission to put an end to the aliens’ tampering with humankind. Interspecies sparks fly, but Crewe maintains that romance is not the book’s primary focus.

“While I enjoy a good love story, I tend to prefer it more as one element of a larger plot,” she says. “So I write about smart, capable girls facing big problems and finding ways to survive and come out stronger, despite the sacrifices they have to make along the way.” With two more instalments in the series due by the end of 2015, Crewe’s fans won’t have long to wait for more excellent alien-tinged adventure.