First published 2019
Jonas lives in a world without pain, conflict, or choice. Everyone follows the same rules. Everyone takes the same pills. Everyone accepts their assigned roles without question. Then the Elders select Jonas for a special position: Receiver of Memory. His training begins with an old man who holds all the memories his community has forgotten. Jonas learns about color, music, and love. He also learns about war, hunger, and death. The memories reveal what his people sacrificed for their peaceful existence. Jonas realizes his society eliminates anything that makes life difficult, including everything that makes it meaningful. When he discovers what happens to citizens who don't fit the community's standards, Jonas faces an impossible decision. He can stay silent and preserve the only world he has ever known. Or he can act on what he has learned and risk everything to save someone he loves. His choice will determine not just his own fate, but the future of everyone in his community.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, coming-of-age, young-adult
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: chosen-one, fish-out-of-water
256 pages · Paperback
Content warnings: violence