The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah

The year is 2099 and the world as we know it is now underwater.  After disaster struck the planet, those that survived had to learn to live in this new world.  But with the new world also came new threats.  The Anthropoids were new humans, designed to help the planet survive after the disaster, but now brings terror through planned attacks.  Meanwhile, the new government may not be all that it appears, with the Blackwatch guarding the Prime Minister and carrying out their own kind of terror. 

Leyla McQueen is a Muslim teen who loves racing through the streets of this new London, pushing her submersible to the limits.  But she is on her own now, after the previous passing of her mother and the recent imprisonment of her father on false charges.  When she is chosen to race in the prestigious London Marathon, she sees a way to save her father.  But the government has other plans.  In order to save her father, Leyla must set out into a world that has always scared her, a world of the unknown outside the boundaries of London.  And when an unwanted passenger is discovered on her submarine, Leyla is forced to open her eyes to a world that she has always been blind to.  As she embarks on the dangerous journey to free her father, maybe Leyla can start facing her fears and viewing the world in ways she never knew was possible. 
 
The Light at the Bottom of the World is a fantastic and fast-paced journey through the depths of the world.  It is a novel about family and the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love.  It is a story about opening our eyes to the prejudices we hold and understanding that what we see isn’t always the truth.  It is a story about facing our fears and coming out the other side even better.  But maybe most importantly, The Light at the Bottom of the World is a story about hope and what hope can do for us during troubling times.  London Shah has given us a tale of hope and family that will stick with the reader long after the last words have been read. 

From Amazon:

"A work of fathomless imagination" --Samantha Shannon, New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Season and The Priory of the Orange Tree

In the last days of the twenty-first century, sea creatures swim through the ruins of London. Trapped in the abyss, humankind wavers between fear and hope--fear of what lurks in the depths around them, and hope that they might one day find a way back to the surface.

When sixteen-year-old submersible racer Leyla McQueen is chosen to participate in the prestigious annual marathon, she sees an opportunity to save her father, who has been arrested on false charges. The Prime Minister promises the champion whatever their heart desires. But the race takes an unexpected turn, forcing Leyla to make an impossible choice.
 
Now she must brave unfathomable waters and defy a corrupt government determined to keep its secrets, all the while dealing with a guarded, hotheaded companion she never asked for in the first place. If Leyla fails to discover the truths at the heart of her world, or falls prey to her own fears, she risks capture--or worse. And her father will be lost to her forever.