Plot Summary: For as long as Rachel can remember she's lived on the Property. Her mother, Vivian, takes care of the house and Ms. Moore, and Rachel keeps out of her way, and away from the Line - the border between the United States and Away - that runs along the back of the property. However, whenever she can Rachel looks up stories about the others that live in the Away, but she has to keep it a secret from her mother who gets upset when Rachel questions things. Her mother has been sad for Rachel's whole life, ever since her father was lost during the war, and she just seems concerned with keeping her head down, and keeping Rachel safe. One thing Rachel can do is help Ms. Moore with the orchids that make her living. Working with the flowers Rachel gets to know Ms. Moore better and has more questions than ever. One day, while in town with her mother, Rachel witnesses a woman arrested and her mother's actions in the face of the arrest raise even more questions for Rachel. How much does she really know about her mother's past? How much does she know about the Line? It's time for answers for Rachel, but will she like what she learns?
Critical Evaluation: In her debut novel Teri Hall really swings for the fences. The Line is ambitious in its scope and story. Set in the United States after a horrible wars have led to the creation of an uncrossable boundary called the Line, the government controls everything and they know everything about you. Big Brother is definitely watching, but instead of just relying on cheap tricks, Hall attempts to create a nuanced, interesting plot with well developed characters and just enough of the flashy to keep things interesting. For the most part, Hall succeeds in her aims and reader is really drawn into the world she has created. On the heels of the extreme success of The Hunger Games dystopian is a hot genre right now, but Hall's contribution is original and a worthy addition to the genre. I for one will be anxiously awaiting Hall's subsequent novels and only hope she can meet the high expectations her debut novel has created for her work.
Reader's Annotation: No one ever questions going over the line, it's just not done. But Rachel is curious, and it seems that something is out there.
About the Author: Teri Hall is a bit of an enigma. The Line is her debut novel, and as a new author she hasn't garnered enough attention to have multiple sources for her biographical information to be widely displayed on the web.
On her own website the only information she includes only the following tidbits: she likes to write books, she lives in Washington State and she has two cats and a strange dog. Literally that is it. Hopefully she will soon write more novels and garner more attention causing all of her personal details to become public fodder. Until then!
Information retreived from http://www.terihall.com/
Genre: Dystopian, Fantasy
Curriculum Ties: N/A
Booktalking Ideas: Write your own story of what would have happened if WWII had played out differently with atomic attack, creating a world like in the line.
Reading Level: 12+
Interest Age: 13+
Challenge Issues: N/A
Why is This Included: A thrilling dystopian novel offers additional read for those enamored with The Hunger Games
No comments:
Post a Comment