Freedom Trials

August 1, 2018
Tate's (Missing Pieces, 2015) sophomore outing introduces a near-future dystopia where juvenile offenders are locked up underground and their memories are wiped of all their criminal deeds in hopes of being granted release through successful completion of the Freedom Trials.Evelyn Summers is pretty sure she is 16, though she cannot be certain. Like all other hacks in the Center she had her memory wiped, obfuscating the reasons for her incarceration. Despite the difficulty in feeling remorse for a crime you cannot be sure you really committed, Evelyn has been a model prisoner, and the directors have every reason to hope she will successfully complete her Freedom Trials. In her prerequisite task, however, she encounters the violent and uniquely powerful Alex Martinez, who proclaims that he once knew her--triggering a quest for the real reasons behind her conviction and the truths hidden in her wiped memories. The first several chapters of first-person narrative are followed by peeks into Evelyn's journals detailing her first months in the Center lockup along with hints at her missing memories, such as the unexplained absence of the letter "D." Graphic, though rarely gratuitous, violence permeates the latter half of the book. The hopeful ending leaves the door open for a sequel. Evelyn presents as white, though the members of the supporting cast have varied racial backgrounds.For readers who can never have enough dystopian fiction; all others should refer to the classics. (Dystopian. 14-18)

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October 1, 2018

Gr 8 Up-Evelyn Summers is a prisoner in a maximum security prison for a crime she doesn't remember committing. When prisoners are brought to the center, all memories of their crimes are wiped. It is supposed to help them as they move forward to becoming productive citizens. After two years in the center, Evelyn is recommended for the Freedom Trials. The Freedom Trials, based on the center's principles for rehabilitation, are seven trials that must be passed before a prisoner can reenter society. Fail the trials, and you are deemed unsavable and are immediately executed. As Evelyn prepares for the trials, she meets a person from her past who makes her question the reason why she is in prison. The narrative is told in alternating time lines-current events and flashbacks from Evelyn's prison journal entries. Readers are able to learn about Evelyn's character, motivation, and the family and friends that impact her life. Quick action and plot twists will keep teens engaged and anxiously turning pages. The second half of the work completely upturns the first half. VERDICT An excellent addition to collections where dystopian reads are popular.-Ashley Leffel, Griffin Middle School, Frisco, TX

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2018
Grades 9-12 Evelyn Summers has been locked away from the outside world ever since she committed a terrible crime, the details of which have been erased from her memory. In the near future, extreme juvenile offenders must choose between execution or enrollment in a rehabilitation program, where they can prove themselves to be reformed enough to reenter society after repenting for crimes they will no longer remember. The mental and physical tests that prisoners must pass to earn their release are called the Freedom Trials, immense challenges designed to judge their commitment to justice. After blowing the whistle on an escape plan, Evelyn is invited to take the Freedom Trials?if her fellow prisoners don't take their revenge first. The start of the trials coincides with the arrival of a new boy who holds the clues to Evelyn's past. Some readers may lose patience with the convoluted plot, but hardcore fans of the Maze Runner series and its deep-rooted conspiracies, shifting alliances, and constant danger will find this story gripping.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)