New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.
The Bill of Rights has been revoked and replaced with the Moral Statutes.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. 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.
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From the Publisher
“Fans of dystopian books will love this debut novel, the first in a series.”
—School Library Journal
“[A] gripping, atmospheric story of survival. Alongside a fierce depiction of oppressive government, Simmons has created a bleak portrait of an America lost. I could hardly put it down.” —Kendare Blake, author of Anna Dressed in Blood
“[A] fun read...a good amount of adventure and action.” —Wired
Publishers Weekly
In her debut novel, Simmons portrays a right-wing dystopian America still reeling from a vaguely described war. Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller lives quietly with her free-spirited mother, trying to avoid the puritanical Federal Bureau of Reformation and their increasingly stringent Moral Statutes. When Ember’s mother is arrested as morally suspect (she’s an unwed mother), Ember is carted off to a repressive reform school that is essentially a concentration camp. Worse, one of the soldiers involved in the arrest is Ember’s former boyfriend, Chase, now barely recognizable in military uniform. The novel details naïve Ember’s experiences first as a prisoner, then as a fugitive, with the emotionally scarred and secretive Chase as her companion. Heavy-handed in its delivery, the tale is well-written, though there are occasional clunkers (“I answered as assertively as I could. I was so mad my organs vibrated”). Simmons’s story includes a fair amount of believable action, a few mildly horrific events, and some not quite R-rated romance on its way to a conclusion that sets up the next installment in this planned trilogy. Ages 14–up. Agent: Browne & Miller Literary Associates. (Feb.)
VOYA - Cassandra Rondinella
Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller lives in a world dictated by Moral Statutes and the Federal Bureau of Reformation (FBR). Since an internal attack on the United States, a set of laws and a new branch of the military has been created to establish order to the nation. With these laws comes the surrender of many constitutional rights. People are fined and taken away for violating the Moral Statutes and vanish without a trace. Ember's mother is in constant violation of the Moral Statutes and is one day arrested for an Article Five violation; having a child out of wedlock. Ember's ex-boyfriend, Chase Jennings, who was drafted into the FBR, is an arresting officer who also helps deport Ember to an out-of-state, girls' reformatory and rehabilitation centera boot camp that forces inmates to submit to regulations or be brutally punished. In an attempt to save and reunite Ember with her mother, Chase goes, helps Ember escape from the center, and both are now searching for a modern underground railroad used to keep violators safe. Chase and Ember experience dangerous situations at every step; from starved, disgruntled citizens to close calls with FBR officers, never knowing who to trust and who is a threat. The story that Simmons tells paints a picture of a world that could easily be our future. Her fluid writing creates an easy-to-read story that opens the eyes of readers to what the loss of civil liberties could entail. This book is a must have for all young adult collections. Reviewer: Cassandra Rondinella
School Library Journal
S. has changed since the war and the bombings. It is no longer a country of freedom and tolerance; instead, sexism is disguised as morality. From life choices to clothing, men and women must adhere to strict gender roles. Ember's mother is arrested under Article 5, a law criminalizing the birth of a child out of wedlock. It does not matter that Ember was born long before the war. While her mother is in jail, the teen is sent to a reform school to make sure that her illegitimate birth has not polluted her beyond redemption. To make matters worse, Chase, the boy she loved and who seemed to love her, is the drafted soldier who transports her there, and he treats her with a cool disdain and detachment. At the reformatory, she is beaten and threatened by the guards. Months pass, and one day Chase shows up to take her to her mother's trial. What follows is a harrowing adventure played out by an AWOL soldier and an escaped prisoner. Ember cannot figure out why Chase came for her, but he seems willing to go to any lengths to protect her. Will they make it to freedom? Article 5 can be compared to Lauren Oliver's Delirium (HarperCollins, 2011) in terms of the control of emotions and morality imposed by society. The escape story is interesting, as is the fragile rebuilding of trust between the teens. Ember's feelings of helplessness are palpable. The story is well written, and the descriptions are vivid. Fans of dystopian books will love this debut novel, the first in a series.—Melyssa Kenney, Parkville High School, Baltimore, MD
Kirkus Reviews
In an unimpressive dystopian romance, a girl flees a repressive institution with the soldier she once loved. After a war whose details never quite emerge, the U.S. government authorized the Federal Bureau of Reformation, better known as the Moral Militia, to arrest any citizen in violation of the stringent "Moral Statutes." Ember's mom is arrested for violating Article 5—having conceived a child out of wedlock—and Ember is sent to a girls' rehab where rule-breakers are punished with violence and those who try to escape are shot. Ember does escape, however, with the help of Chase Jennings, a friend who joined the Moral Militia years earlier, and most of the book chronicles the pair's tense and treacherous journey in search of Ember's mother and safety. That the two have feelings for each other is immediately clear, but drawn-out misunderstandings and a tedious unwillingness to communicate keep the two travelers at odds. Despite the book's implicit critique of sexism ("[women]'s subservience" is mandated by the Articles), Chase is portrayed as knowledgeable, street-smart and in charge, while Ember is loose-tongued and impulsive, frequently requiring Chase's assistance to get out of a scrape. There are a few engaging action scenes here and there, but overall, it's a disappointment for romantics, feminists and dystopia fans alike. (Dystopian romance. 12 & up)
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