A Girl Undone

April 15, 2015
Wanted as a terrorist, Avie works to save herself and the ones she loves without giving in to the vicious Paternalists. After the horrific shootout in Salvation, Idaho, Avie and Luke are on the run, leaving Yates to recover from his wounds. They hide in plain sight, masquerading as a married couple and altering their appearances. Meanwhile, every news bulletin and magazine display Avie's face and the promise of a massive reward for her return to her betrothed, politician Jessop Hawkins. Luke leads them to Laramie, Wyoming, enlisting the help of a friend of his father's he hopes will aid them in delivering damning evidence against the Paternalist Party to Washington, D.C. But Avie senses something off about this new acquaintance, and her fears soon prove well-founded. Suddenly their road to revolution veers off course, and Avie finds herself trapped, able to help her friends only if she sells her own beliefs down the river, along with any hope of being with Yates again. Avie and Luke's travels are rich with immersive, chilling atmosphere, quirky allies, and conniving townspeople. The middle lags as the struggle shifts inward to Avie's internal turmoil and away from direct action. But the arduous march toward ending the brutality of the Paternalist Party will keep readers turning pages long into the night. A realistic, sobering conclusion to the battle between one girl and a looming, Atwood-ian society. (Dystopian romance. 14-18)

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June 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 On the run with secrets that could ruin the government and the paternalist movement, which sells women via marriage contracts, Avie must choose whether she will save herself or fight for the rights of those around her. Picking up where A Girl Called Fearless (2014) ends, Avie has escaped the federal agents in Salvation and is on the run to Washington, D.C., with a million-dollar bounty on her head. Quickly apprehended, Avie is returned to Jessop Watkins, the man she is being forced to marry, and must act like the perfect fiancee while deciding whether she is fearless enough to join the fight for women's rights. While the plot seems to meander and takes many routes to gain traction, the thrilling and surprising conclusion is sure to excite readers. A thought-provoking look at what it means to be a revolutionary and how change can be brought about by just one person.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)