Look ‘N Up Invasion is not your typical science-fiction story, but this coming-of-age debut novel does create a fresh look at celebrating diversity by imagining a world without it. It is a world with “no other” – no other race or religion, no other ideas, no choice, no new DNA, and no escape.

Smith, a child of a liberal 1960s household, uses her book to debate issues such as democracy vs. theocracy and science vs religion, tackling many contemporary issues, including human rights, women’s place in society, diversity, friendship, family, loyalty, and war. The reader is transported to a different world, where only your survival instincts can save you. Here, every creature is determined to have an uncanny survival instinct.

“The twists and turns in the narrative,” says Christina Avina of Pacific Book Review, “including the shocking ending, will showcase the importance of learning from one another and recognizing our differences while finding new ways to come together, united, and end the judgment that we reserve for those different from us.