Opposite Identicals

A Junior Library Guild Pick!

MYRCA Northern Lights Selection, 2025

Opposite Identicals is a non-stop adrenaline rush from start to finish. Deborah Kerbel has written two unforgettable characters who take turns telling the story. Kids of all ages will race through this book, desperate to find out what will happen to the twins when catastrophe strikes in a near future world, changed forever by climate crisis. Don't miss this one!" -- Carol Matas, author of A Struggle for Hope and Past Crimes

Opposite Identicals is an upper middle grade novel set in the very near future -- a time when climate change has irreversibly altered our planet and lifestyles. Nova and Joule are fourteen-year old twins whose scientist parents have recently uprooted the family from their urban home and moved to the country on a year-long research assignment, studying the effects of GMO 'SuperCrop' farming on the environment in the final regulatory phase before global expansion.

Surrounded by nature and quiet, open spaces, shy, bookish Nova is in heaven. But Joule -- whose life's ambition is to be famous and reach a million Hollagram followers -- is desperate to escape. One day, Joule gets her wish, although not in a way anyone ever expected. In an instant, she's gone -- swallowed up by a mysterious sinkhole under her bedroom floor. Suddenly twinless, Nova is forced to step in and lead the search for her missing sister. But can she face her fears and figure out what caused the sinkhole in time to save Joule?

Told from alternating points of view, it's a fantastical adventure about overcoming obstacles, self-discovery, and environmental awareness.

"With suspense, adventure, and plenty of creepy crawlies, Opposite Identicals will have fans of Stranger Things looking at the ground below and wondering, 'what if?' Nail biting suspense, sisterly love, and subterranean adventures make for an exciting middle grade sci fi read!" -- Colleen Nelson, author of The Undercover Book List