She has escaped imminent death, but now Thalli is thrust into a new fight-a fight to save her new home. Soon after their arrival to New Hope, the town comes under attack. When Thalli meets the people there-people actually 'born' to 'families'-her small world is blown wide open. It's their only chance of survival.īroken and exhausted after an arduous journey, they arrive in New Hope, a town that survived the nuclear holocaust. She and her three friends must journey across this unknown land, their destination a hidden civilization. A world where not even the air is safe to breathe. Now Thalli is above ground in a world she thought was destroyed. But seconds before her death, she is rescued. The Scientists running the State couldn't allow her to bring undue chaos to their peaceful, ordered world. She was considered an anomaly-able to experience emotions that should have been eradicated by genetic modification. “McGee blends the determination of faith, the malevolence of those who extol power over decency, and the assertion of individual integrity in a humane glimpse at youthful courage.She was an anomaly with a death sentence. death, torture, and confusing love triangles.” - Booklist “McGee once again blends a Christian message within a horrific science fiction plot. But can Thalli really come to trust in a generous, protective Designer who rules over all things? Would that not be setting herself up for another betrayal?

Meanwhile, John’s unwavering faith in the goodness of the Designer begins to make its mark on Thalli’s heart. Although everyone in New Hope warned her not to, she can’t help but fall for him. Can she trust anything from the State, including her own feelings for Berk? When she volunteers for a peace mission to New Hope’s violent neighbor, Athens, her confusion mounts as the supposedly ruthless Prince Ale x turns out to be kind and charming. When the citizens of New Hope reveal the truth of what happened years ago, Thalli is left unsettled and skeptical of everything she’s ever been told. As the defectors cross the for gotten landscape, the three youths see things the y had only read about on screens: horses, rain, real books-and a colony of unsanctioned survivors living the ancient way in a town called New Hope. But is she any less of an anomaly aboveground?Īfter escaping an underground annihilation chamber, Thalli, Berk, Rhen, and John find themselves fleeing across the former United States, aboveground for the first time. Thalli thought escaping to the surface would mean freedom.

Luminary krista mcgee