Siberia (21 page)
Author’s Note
The Seed Savers
The greatest seed bank in the world is held in Leningrad, a city we now know by its older name of St. Petersburg. In the Second World War, Leningrad was besieged for nine hundred days. Half a million people starved, but the curators of the seed bank barricaded themselves in, and defended their stocks—the hope of the future—from the starving citizens. When Allied soldiers finally entered the facility, they found the emaciated bodies of the botanists lying beside full sacks of potatoes, maize, and wheat, a priceless genetic legacy for which they had given their lives. This is the story that gave me the idea for Sloe and her adventure.
Susan Lindquist, whose name I’ve borrowed for the Lindquist kits, is a real person, and a biology professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She really has worked out that there’s a prion (a kind of protein) that can act like a genetic switch, controlling the expression of many tiny mutations, until they are all revealed at once. Of course the idea that you could build a compendium genome, where several different species could be hidden and “revealed” like that, is a complete fantasy. But the winter world that Sloe lives in could be ours. As you may know, a colder Europe may be one consequence of the phenomenon known as global warming. The great oceanic current we know as the Gulf Stream, or the North Atlantic Drift, may switch into reverse, bringing cold water instead of warm water to the western seaboard of Europe, and causing land temperatures to drop sharply.
You could, if you like, imagine that Sloe’s journey starts somewhere to the east of Warsaw; she travels to the Baltic coast (a journey I have made myself, by way of roads still potholed in places by Second World War bombs), and the city where the sun always shines is across the sea in the south of Sweden, somewhere around Malmö. But maybe not. You can imagine the adventure happening wherever you like. The Siberia I’m talking about in this story is not a place. Siberia is a state of mind.
About the Author
Ann Halam
was born and raised in Manchester, England, and after graduating from Sussex University spent years traveling throughout Southeast Asia. She now lives in Brighton, England, with her husband and son. As well as being a children’s author, Ann Halam writes adult science fiction and fantasy books, as Gwyneth Jones. Her most recent books for young adults are
Taylor Five
and
Dr. Franklin’s Island.
Also by Ann Halam
Taylor
Five
Dr.
Franklin’s
Island
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Published by Laurel-Leaf
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New York
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2005 by Ann Halam
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November 2006
eISBN: 978-0-307-43376-3
v3.0