Book excerpt: Cast into a dangerous new world and separated from her friends, Myra uncovers secrets and lies the Governing Council has been cultivating for centuries. The third book in the searing STEAM-inspired Plotting the Stars middle grade series perfect for fans of The City of Ember and Divergent. Out of the ashes, change will grow. Thrown on a ship on a one-way voyage to uninhabitable Earth, Myra, Hannah, and Bernard believe they’ll never see their home or the people they care about again. After crash landing, they’re attacked, sedated, and dragged away . . . by people? There are still people on Earth? Unbeknownst to just about everyone in the galaxy, the Old World is inhabited by Botans and many generations of their offspring. And that means maybe Canter’s mother and Hannah’s sister might be there, too. Back on Venus, Canter and Lila have an insider spying on MFI’s operations and are biding their time, waiting for the right moment to expose Melfin's treachery before he risks more than just the Settlement food supply. But there’s more at stake than revealing the continued existence of the Botans and freeing the Reps. Other long-buried Old World secrets. Secrets that were buried for a very good reason. . . . Will Myra and her friends kindle and cultivate a new future from the ruins of the old, or have they ignited an inferno that will destroy all they hold dear? The third book in the Plotting the Stars series, Ashgarden burns with determination, exploring the devastating possibilities of climate change and the power of the young voices fighting for something better.