Publication Date: 31 January 2012
Publisher: Tor Teen
ISBN: 0765329581
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopian/Adventure
Source: Bookshelf
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Lootability: ***
New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.After the world as we know it has been decimated and a new order has been set up in its place, the ordinary people have no choice but to follow. Until, the new Order starts punishing people for meaningless past transgressions.
The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.
There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.
Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.
Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.
That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings—the only boy Ember has ever loved.
When Ember and her mother are taken from their home, and split up for breaking Article 5 of the Moral Statutes, Ember must learn that no one is ordinary and everyone can fight back.
