A Dangerous Trip Into The 'Spill Zone:' Questions For Scott Westerfeld
Scott Westerfeld's new graphic novel was inspired by photos of Chernobyl; it's the story of two sisters living on the outskirts of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. after a mysterious incident destroys the city.
In the dark forests outside Poughkeepsie, N.Y., two sisters live alone. Lexa, mute, communicates only with her unnerving rag doll. Addison, the elder, gets on her motorbike after dark and ventures into the city, now deserted and terribly transformed after a mysterious incident called the Spill — which claimed both their parents.
Scott Westerfeld says the inspiration for his new graphic novel came partly from a photograph taken in Pripyat, the city just outside the Chernobyl nuclear complex. It showed a classroom full of desks, "each with a textbook on it, all turned to the same page. It was taken 20 years after the Chernobyl
