Caragh M. O'Brien
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Birthmarked (Birthmarked, #1)
38 editions
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published
2010
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Prized (Birthmarked, #2)
2 editions
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published
2011
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Promised (Birthmarked, #3)
34 editions
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published
2012
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The Vault of Dreamers (The Vault of Dreamers, #1)
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published
2014
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Tortured (Birthmarked, #1.5)
2 editions
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published
2011
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Ruled (Birthmarked, #2.5)
3 editions
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published
2012
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The Rule of Mirrors (The Vault of Dreamers, #2)
12 editions
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published
2016
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The Keep of Ages (The Vault of Dreamers, #3)
10 editions
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published
2017
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Birthmarked: Chapters 1-5
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published
2012
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The Birthmarked Trilogy (Birthmarked, #1-3)
3 editions
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published
2014
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Caragh’s Recent Updates
“There are some things, once they are done, that we can never question, because if we did, we wouldn't be able to go on. And we have to go on, every single day.”
― Birthmarked
― Birthmarked
“Would you have this?” the Protectorat hissed at his son.
Rafael's gaze narrowed in a slow inspection while she stared defiantly back. Rafael's gaze faltered, shot briefly toward Leon, and then down. His answer was obvious: no.
And in spite of everything, in the face of all the other more important dangers that threatened her, it still stung that someone, some boy, found her ugly. Gaia burned with sudden hate for all of them.
The Protectorat saw. He smiled slightly.
“I thought not,” said the Protectorat, releasing her with a flick. He turned back toward his family. “I can't thrust her on any family I know, no matter what her genes are. She's a freak, not a hero. I'd rather make a hero out of Myrna Silk.”
Leon had been standing tensely throughout this exchange. “I'd take Gaia,” Leon said, his low voice resonating in the space.”
― Birthmarked
Rafael's gaze narrowed in a slow inspection while she stared defiantly back. Rafael's gaze faltered, shot briefly toward Leon, and then down. His answer was obvious: no.
And in spite of everything, in the face of all the other more important dangers that threatened her, it still stung that someone, some boy, found her ugly. Gaia burned with sudden hate for all of them.
The Protectorat saw. He smiled slightly.
“I thought not,” said the Protectorat, releasing her with a flick. He turned back toward his family. “I can't thrust her on any family I know, no matter what her genes are. She's a freak, not a hero. I'd rather make a hero out of Myrna Silk.”
Leon had been standing tensely throughout this exchange. “I'd take Gaia,” Leon said, his low voice resonating in the space.”
― Birthmarked
Polls
Dystopian Dream May's Group Read
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1379757657i/175592.jpg)
goodreads summary-A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1379757657i/175592.jpg)
goodreads summary-A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118938._SY540_.jpg)
goodreads summary-Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118938._SY540_.jpg)
goodreads summary-Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.
Gone by Michael Grant
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goodreads summary-In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.
Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.
Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.
It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else...
[image error]
goodreads summary-In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.
Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.
Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.
It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else...
Wither by Lauren DeStefano
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118940.jpg)
goodreads summary-What if you knew exactly when you would die?
Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.
But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118940.jpg)
goodreads summary-What if you knew exactly when you would die?
Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.
But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.
Divergent by Veronica Roth
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118941.jpg)
goodreads summary-In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118941.jpg)
goodreads summary-In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
Bumped by Megan McCafferty
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118942._SY540_.jpg)
goodreads summary-When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.
Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job.
Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that “pregging” for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.
When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118942._SY540_.jpg)
goodreads summary-When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.
Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job.
Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that “pregging” for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.
When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.
Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118943.jpg)
goodreads summary-Keep Your Head Down.
Don't Get Noticed.
Or Else.
I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118943.jpg)
goodreads summary-Keep Your Head Down.
Don't Get Noticed.
Or Else.
I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118946.jpg)
goodreads summary-Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118946.jpg)
goodreads summary-Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.
0.4 by Mike Lancaster
[image error]
goodreads summary-It's a brave new world.
'My name is Kyle Straker. And I don't exist anymore.'
So begins the story of Kyle Straker, recorded onto old audiotapes. You might think these tapes are a hoax, but perhaps they contain the history of a past world....If what the tapes say is true, it means that everything we think we know is a lie.
And if everything we know is a lie, does that mean that we are, too?
[image error]
goodreads summary-It's a brave new world.
'My name is Kyle Straker. And I don't exist anymore.'
So begins the story of Kyle Straker, recorded onto old audiotapes. You might think these tapes are a hoax, but perhaps they contain the history of a past world....If what the tapes say is true, it means that everything we think we know is a lie.
And if everything we know is a lie, does that mean that we are, too?
WE by John Dickinson
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118947._SY540_.jpg)
goodreads summary-We are the only Humans left...In the furthest, coldest, darkest reaches of our solar system, Paul Munro is on a mission from which he can never return. A desolate ice-covered moon will be his home for the rest of his life. And only from here can he see what humanity has become. A thriller to freeze your blood. To absolute zero.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118947._SY540_.jpg)
goodreads summary-We are the only Humans left...In the furthest, coldest, darkest reaches of our solar system, Paul Munro is on a mission from which he can never return. A desolate ice-covered moon will be his home for the rest of his life. And only from here can he see what humanity has become. A thriller to freeze your blood. To absolute zero.
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118944._SY540_.jpg)
goodreads summary-Imagine waking up one day in total darkness, unsure of where you are and unable to remember anything about yourself except your first name. You're in a bizarre place devoid of adults called the Glade. The Glade is an enclosed structure with a jail, a graveyard, a slaughterhouse, living quarters, and gardens. And no way out. Outside the Glade is the Maze, and every day some of the kids -- the Runners -- venture into the labyrinth, trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit from this hellish place. So far, no one has figured it out. And not all of the Runners return from their daily exertions, victims of the maniacal Grievers, part animal, part mechanical killing machines.
Thomas is the newest arrival to the Glade in this Truman-meets-Lord of the Flies tale. A motley crew of half a dozen kids is all he has to guide him in this strange world. As soon as he arrives, unusual things begin to happen, and the others grow suspicious of him. Though the Maze seems somehow familiar to Thomas, he's unable to make sense of the place, despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. What is this place, and does Thomas hold the key to finding a way out?
In The Maze Runner, Dashner has crafted a creative and engaging novel that's both mysterious and thought provoking
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118944._SY540_.jpg)
goodreads summary-Imagine waking up one day in total darkness, unsure of where you are and unable to remember anything about yourself except your first name. You're in a bizarre place devoid of adults called the Glade. The Glade is an enclosed structure with a jail, a graveyard, a slaughterhouse, living quarters, and gardens. And no way out. Outside the Glade is the Maze, and every day some of the kids -- the Runners -- venture into the labyrinth, trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit from this hellish place. So far, no one has figured it out. And not all of the Runners return from their daily exertions, victims of the maniacal Grievers, part animal, part mechanical killing machines.
Thomas is the newest arrival to the Glade in this Truman-meets-Lord of the Flies tale. A motley crew of half a dozen kids is all he has to guide him in this strange world. As soon as he arrives, unusual things begin to happen, and the others grow suspicious of him. Though the Maze seems somehow familiar to Thomas, he's unable to make sense of the place, despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. What is this place, and does Thomas hold the key to finding a way out?
In The Maze Runner, Dashner has crafted a creative and engaging novel that's both mysterious and thought provoking
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118945.jpg)
goodreads summary-rentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee - whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not - stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden - a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.
But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118945.jpg)
goodreads summary-rentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee - whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not - stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden - a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.
But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?
XVI by Julia Karr
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118952.jpg)
goodreads summary-Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world—even the most predatory of men—that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past—one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118952.jpg)
goodreads summary-Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world—even the most predatory of men—that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past—one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118951.jpg)
goodreads summary-“Every war has turning points and every person too.”
Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.
As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.
A riveting and astonishing story.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118951.jpg)
goodreads summary-“Every war has turning points and every person too.”
Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.
As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.
A riveting and astonishing story.
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118950.jpg)
goodreads summary-Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives.
The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118950.jpg)
goodreads summary-Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives.
The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.
Genesis by Bernard Beckett
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118949.jpg)
goodreads summary-“What does it mean to be human?” The answer lies within the mystery of Genesis. Set in a postapocalyptic future, the novel takes the form of an examination undergone by young Anaximander as she prepares to enter an enigmatic institution known simply as The Academy. For her subject she has chosen the life of the philosopher-soldier Adam Forde, her long-dead hero. It is through Anax’s presentation and her answers to persistent questioning by her examiners that we learn the history of her island Republic, along with the rules and beliefs of their society. At the completion of the examination, when everything has been laid bare, Anax must confront the Republic’s last great secret, her own surprising link to Adam Forde, and the horrifying truth about her world.
Like the great writers Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick, Bernard Beckett explores the relationship between humans and technology in a brilliantly rendered novel that will keep readers guessing until the final page.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118949.jpg)
goodreads summary-“What does it mean to be human?” The answer lies within the mystery of Genesis. Set in a postapocalyptic future, the novel takes the form of an examination undergone by young Anaximander as she prepares to enter an enigmatic institution known simply as The Academy. For her subject she has chosen the life of the philosopher-soldier Adam Forde, her long-dead hero. It is through Anax’s presentation and her answers to persistent questioning by her examiners that we learn the history of her island Republic, along with the rules and beliefs of their society. At the completion of the examination, when everything has been laid bare, Anax must confront the Republic’s last great secret, her own surprising link to Adam Forde, and the horrifying truth about her world.
Like the great writers Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick, Bernard Beckett explores the relationship between humans and technology in a brilliantly rendered novel that will keep readers guessing until the final page.
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118958.jpg)
goodreads summary-Set initially in a future shanty town in America's Gulf Coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being dissembled for parts by a rag tag group of workers, we meet Nailer, a teenage boy working the light crew, searching for copper wiring to make quota and live another day. The harsh realities of this life, from his abusive father, to his hand to mouth existence, echo the worst poverty in the present day third world. When an accident leads Nailer to discover an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, and the lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl, Nailer finds himself at a crossroads. Should he strip the ship and live a life of relative wealth, or rescue the girl, Nita, at great risk to himself and hope she'll lead him to a better life. This is a novel that illuminates a world where oil has been replaced by necessity, and where the gap between the haves and have-nots is now an abyss. Yet amidst the shadows of degradation, hope lies ahead.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118958.jpg)
goodreads summary-Set initially in a future shanty town in America's Gulf Coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being dissembled for parts by a rag tag group of workers, we meet Nailer, a teenage boy working the light crew, searching for copper wiring to make quota and live another day. The harsh realities of this life, from his abusive father, to his hand to mouth existence, echo the worst poverty in the present day third world. When an accident leads Nailer to discover an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, and the lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl, Nailer finds himself at a crossroads. Should he strip the ship and live a life of relative wealth, or rescue the girl, Nita, at great risk to himself and hope she'll lead him to a better life. This is a novel that illuminates a world where oil has been replaced by necessity, and where the gap between the haves and have-nots is now an abyss. Yet amidst the shadows of degradation, hope lies ahead.
Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien
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goodreads summary-After climate change, on the north shore of Unlake Superior, a dystopian world is divided between those who live inside the wall, and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone, who live outside. It’s Gaia’s job to “advance” a quota of infants from poverty into the walled Enclave, until the night one agonized mother objects, and Gaia’s parents are arrested.
Badly scarred since childhood, Gaia is a strong, resourceful loner who begins to question her society. As Gaia’s efforts to save her parents take her within the wall, she herself is arrested and imprisoned.
Fraught with difficult moral choices and rich with intricate layers of codes, Birthmarked explores a colorful, cruel, eerily familiar world where one girl can make all the difference, and a real hero makes her own moral code.
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goodreads summary-After climate change, on the north shore of Unlake Superior, a dystopian world is divided between those who live inside the wall, and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone, who live outside. It’s Gaia’s job to “advance” a quota of infants from poverty into the walled Enclave, until the night one agonized mother objects, and Gaia’s parents are arrested.
Badly scarred since childhood, Gaia is a strong, resourceful loner who begins to question her society. As Gaia’s efforts to save her parents take her within the wall, she herself is arrested and imprisoned.
Fraught with difficult moral choices and rich with intricate layers of codes, Birthmarked explores a colorful, cruel, eerily familiar world where one girl can make all the difference, and a real hero makes her own moral code.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118953.jpg)
goodreads summary-Set in an apocalyptic future where rising oceans have swallowed up entire regions and people live packed like sardines on the dry land left, DARK LIFE is the harrowing tale of underwater pioneers who have carved out a life for themselves in the harsh deep-sea environment, farming the seafloor in exchange for the land deed.
The story follows Ty, who has lived his whole life on his family's homestead and has dreams of claiming his own stake when he turns eighteen. But when outlaws' attacks on government supply ships and settlements threaten to destroy the underwater territory, Ty finds himself in a fight to stop the outlaws and save the only home he has ever known.
Joined by a girl from the Topside who has come subsea to look for her prospector brother, Ty ventures into the frontier's rough underworld and begins to discover some dark secrets to Dark Life.
As Ty gets closer to the truth, he discovers that the outlaws may not be the bloodthirsty criminals the government has portrayed them as. And that the government abandoning the territory might be the best thing for everyone, especially for someone like Ty, someone with a Dark Gift.
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118959._SY540_.jpg)
goodreads summary-Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.
Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118959._SY540_.jpg)
goodreads summary-Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.
Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.
The Declaration by Gemma Malley
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118955.jpg)
goodreads summary-In the year 2140, it is illegal to be young.
Children are all but extinct.
The world is a better place.
Longevity drugs are a fountain of youth. Sign the Declaration, agree not to have children and you too can live forever. Refuse, and you will live as an outcast. For the children born outside the law, it only gets worse – Surplus status.
Not everyone thinks Longevity is a good thing, but you better be clear what side you’re on. . . . Surplus Anna is about to find out what happens when you can’t decide if you should cheat the law or cheat death.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118955.jpg)
goodreads summary-In the year 2140, it is illegal to be young.
Children are all but extinct.
The world is a better place.
Longevity drugs are a fountain of youth. Sign the Declaration, agree not to have children and you too can live forever. Refuse, and you will live as an outcast. For the children born outside the law, it only gets worse – Surplus status.
Not everyone thinks Longevity is a good thing, but you better be clear what side you’re on. . . . Surplus Anna is about to find out what happens when you can’t decide if you should cheat the law or cheat death.
Feed by M.T. Anderson
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118956.jpg)
goodreads summary-Finalist for the 2002 National Book Award, Young People's Literature
Honor book for the 2003 Boston Globe/Horn Book Award (Fiction category)
The Barnes & Noble Review
Brave New World takes a romantic teen twist in this disarming, engrossing novel set in a hyper-computerized future.
Spending time partying on the moon and riding around in his "upcar," Titus is an average teen of the future, complete with a computer chip implant -- the "Feed" -- that lets corporate marketers and government agencies broadcast directly into his brain. Then Titus meets Violet, and an anti-Feed hacker shuts down their Feeds for a short time; but when Violet's Feed is seriously damaged, she begins spouting some radical ideas.
M. T. Anderson has predicted the future, and it's startling indeed. Although Titus is a good, well-meaning kid, his blissful ignorance of the control over him leaves readers thinking twice about the destiny of earth's citizens. Beneath the book's techno-veneer, however, lies a romantic tale between a boy who gives into the system and a girl who sees beyond it. All told, Feed is a "meg" remarkable work of science fiction, and once readers begin, they'll be caught up in its powerful grip. Matt Warner
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118956.jpg)
goodreads summary-Finalist for the 2002 National Book Award, Young People's Literature
Honor book for the 2003 Boston Globe/Horn Book Award (Fiction category)
The Barnes & Noble Review
Brave New World takes a romantic teen twist in this disarming, engrossing novel set in a hyper-computerized future.
Spending time partying on the moon and riding around in his "upcar," Titus is an average teen of the future, complete with a computer chip implant -- the "Feed" -- that lets corporate marketers and government agencies broadcast directly into his brain. Then Titus meets Violet, and an anti-Feed hacker shuts down their Feeds for a short time; but when Violet's Feed is seriously damaged, she begins spouting some radical ideas.
M. T. Anderson has predicted the future, and it's startling indeed. Although Titus is a good, well-meaning kid, his blissful ignorance of the control over him leaves readers thinking twice about the destiny of earth's citizens. Beneath the book's techno-veneer, however, lies a romantic tale between a boy who gives into the system and a girl who sees beyond it. All told, Feed is a "meg" remarkable work of science fiction, and once readers begin, they'll be caught up in its powerful grip. Matt Warner
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118957.jpg)
goodreads summary-Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.
But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.
When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.
![](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380748212i/3118957.jpg)
goodreads summary-Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.
But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.
When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.
50 total votes
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“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”
― Writers At Work: The Paris Review Interviews, 2nd Series
― Writers At Work: The Paris Review Interviews, 2nd Series
![181857](https://images.gr-assets.com/groups/1453767917p1/181857.jpg)
Join YA author Caragh M. O'Brien as she discusses writing and reading YA novels and celebrates the release of The Rule of Mirrors, the second book in ...more
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A Group for all things YA and David Estes
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Students from Manchester High School and Illing Middle School in Manchester, CT come together to discuss Caragh O'Brien's latest novel: The Vault of D ...more
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A group for fans of Georgette Heyer to discuss her work. Whether you are a fan of many years or someone who is just starting out reading her novels yo ...more
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A group to connect readers in the "Quiet Corner" of northeast CT. Please post info about books you read, book events, book clubs and anything fun to d ...more
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Whatever your age is, if you love reading young adult fiction, then I want to know what you are reading! Let's exchange ideas of good reads, nice idea ...more
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OUR SHARED SHELF IS CURRENTLY DORMANT AND NOT MANAGED BY EMMA AND HER TEAM. Dear Readers, As part of my work with UN Women, I have started reading ...more
Comments (showing 1-41)
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![Up arrow](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/up_arrow-eed7cf633822703667086373e41273eb.gif)
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
Thank you, Jasmine! How kind of you. I'm delighted that you enjoy Gaia's story so much!
All best,
Caragh
![Jasmine Cook](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1436583110p1/31481250.jpg)
![Jessica](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1537795757p1/8553793.jpg)
Jessica ~ Thanks! See you around Goodreads!
All best,
Caragh"
:-)
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
Jessica ~ Thanks! See you around Goodreads!
All best,
Caragh
![Jessica](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1537795757p1/8553793.jpg)
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
Maya rhymes. "My-" (like my pie) "'uh." "My-uh."
Of course, you can pronounce them however you like, but that's how I do it.
All best,
Caragh
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
Wise,
How nice of you! I love the idea of you sneaking the book under the tablecloth. That's quite an honor! Thanks for writing to me. I hope you enjoy Prized, too, and a whole summer of happy reading.
All best,
Caragh
![Bengta Brettschneider](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1470748732p1/5327688.jpg)
Your Bengta
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
Jamie, Thanks for your kind words! Promised is due out in the fall of 2012, but more specifically than that, I don't yet know.
All best,
Caragh
![Jaime Mae](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1619184646p1/5900147.jpg)
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
How kind of you. I'm so pleased to know you appreciated the little things about Gaia's story, and I'm touched you took a moment to write to me. Many thanks.
I'll see you around Goodreads!
All best,
Caragh
![Camilla Rose](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
Love, Camilla Rose
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
Thank you! How kind of you. In fairness, I should clarify that Birthmarked is my YA debut but not my first novel ever. I published 6 romances before I became a teacher, and Birthmarked followed still later. I'm delighted that Gaia's story has become one of your favorites this year.
All best,
Caragh
![Liz](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1439322617p1/5390615.jpg)
I can't wait to read Prized! :)
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
I'm so glad you enjoyed the characters and the code. That's great that your mother is reading Gaia's story now, too. Writing this trilogy has been fascinating for me and I've worked intensely on it, so I'm pleased Birthmarked is a favorite of yours. I am, indeed, working on three books altogether. Here's hoping you like them all, eventually.
All best,
Caragh
![Cici](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1354803345p1/1931122.jpg)
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
That's so cool and fun about the Volvo's plate! There are other books and computer games that have enclaves in them, too, but of course, I like my Enclave best of all.
All best,
Caragh
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
Do you have a title for it so far?"
Dear Summer,
Sadly, the title so far is still "Book 2." I have no idea what we'll call it. I should check my Goodreads emails more consistently. I'm sorry about this terribly slow reply. I'm a bit better on Facebook if you care to look for me there.
All best,
Caragh
![Renna Mira (AKA Enna Isilee)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1643138682p1/841181.jpg)
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
How kind of you! I'm so glad you enjoyed Gaia's story. I know what you mean about needing a book to be long enough. So far, Book 2 has fluctuated by about 100 pages as I develop and cut and revise, but it looks like it will end up around the same length as Birthmarked. I just want it to be tight. It's due out in the fall of 2011.
All best,
Caragh
![Summer](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1278557375p1/3945350.jpg)
Do make it longer; after reading books like Harry Potter, 200-some pages seems too short for such a thrilling book!
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
All best,
Caragh
![April*procrastinator and proud*](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1411427374p1/3073744.jpg)
(i was kidding dont actually make it a billion pagees long...)
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
Yes, the sequel is about Gaia and what she does next after Birthmarked. Another one of my favorite characters shows up, too. I'm frankly obsessed with it, and very worried about Gaia.
All best,
Caragh
![April*procrastinator and proud*](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1411427374p1/3073744.jpg)
~Thanks! ^^
![Caragh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442504599p1/2319843.jpg)
Dear Haley,
You're kind to ask. I did not, originally, plan a sequel, but I find there's more of the story to tell. So, yes, I'm working on it.
All best,
Caragh