MONMOUTH — Shelley Workinger, a 1994 graduate of Monmouth Academy, has blended sci-fi and romance in “Solid,” a book she wrote for young adults. It is the first in a planned trilogy; the second book, “Settling,” is due out next year.

Workinger, who graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in English and sociology, lives in New Jersey.

In “Solid,” which is set 18 years ago, a rogue Army doctor secretly experiments with a chromosomal drug on unknowing pregnant women. When he is killed not long after the children are born, any knowledge and evidence seems to die with him — except for the living, breathing, human products of his work.

Almost two decades later, the newly self-proclaimed “open-book” military unearths the truth about the experiment, bringing Clio Kaid and other affected teens to a state-of-the-art, isolated campus. There, they discover that C9x did, indeed, alter their chromosomes — its mutations presenting as super-human abilities.

The military kids from across the nation and all walks of life come into their own as lighter-than-air athletes, teens who can make themselves invisible and others who can blind with their brilliance. While exploring her own special ability, forging new friendships and embarking on first love, Kaid stumbles onto information indicating the military may not have been forthcoming after all.

“Solid” is available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites.

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