First published 2016
Lina spends her days working in a gray factory, building widgets while the Officiate watches. Fiction has been outlawed in her world, leaving only dull routine and surveillance. The twelve-year-old girl secretly yearns for adventure and stories, though such desires could bring punishment. Her monotonous life shifts when she finds hidden books that the authorities have banned. These discovered stories offer her glimpses of magic and imagination she has never known. Now Lina faces an impossible choice between safety and the pull of forbidden tales. The Officiate grows suspicious and begins hunting for rule breakers. Time runs short as Lina seeks answers about her own history while fighting to protect her newfound right to dream and imagine.
Genres: fiction, science-fiction, dystopia, young-adult
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: forbidden-love, found-family
48 pages · Paperback · Oxford University Press