The Keepers of the Flame (Fire-us #2) - Hardcover

Armstrong, Jennifer; Nancy Butcher

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060080493 ISBN 13: 9780060080495

Publisher: HarperTeen, 2002

Synopsis

Cory put her hands to her face. She was covered with layers of gauze, and she tore at it, layer after layer shedding in her hands as she hurried onward.

The rocks in the path were bones and grinning skulls. This was what she had been stumbling over, and what her dress had been catching on. Panicked, she looked up.

Five years after a deadly plague killed all the Grown-ups, the world's population has nearly vanished. Civilization is gone, and the children who outlived their parents have mostly perished of hunger or disease. But ten children survived, and have forged a new family, a new life, and together traveled up the coast of Florida, searching for answers.

To their shock, they've found a group of adults, the only Grown-ups they've seen for years, living in an abandoned shopping mall. The Grown-ups seem delighted to see the children, and welcome them to the brave new world they've made for themselves -- a place with comforts the family had forgotten: cupcakes, clean clothes, adults to depend on.

But something is terribly wrong. This friendly community is not what it appears. Can they find out the truth -- before it's too late?

In this second book of the Fire-us Trilogy, Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butcher return to the post-apocalyptic world they created in The Kindling, as the family searches for the dark truth at the heart of the Fire-us.

About this title

About the Author

Jennifer Armstrong is an award-winning author, best known for her works of historical fiction, which include Steal Away, The Dreams od Mairhe Mehan, and Mary Mehan Awake.

Nancy Butcher is the New York Times best-selling author of many series books, including titles in the Wishbone, Two of a Kind, and Ghostwriters Mysteries series.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 7-10. This second book in the Fire-us trilogy maintains and even intensifies the unrelenting momentum of its predecessor, Kindling [BKL Ap 15 02]. As the intrepid young survivors of world calamity travel toward Washington, D.C., they encounter their first grown-ups, the Keepers of the Flame, who comprise an extremist religious cult led by the mysterious Supreme Leader. These grown-ups, who occupy a deserted mall, have taken names such as Proverbs 3:21 and Psalm 12. At first the kids are relieved to have found some adults, but they gradually realize that something is horribly wrong. Why have five-year-old twins Puppy and Kitty been whisked away and hidden? Why is 15-year-old Corinthians 1:19, who calls herself Cory, so eager to look at the Book that Teacher uses to find answers. And what happens to the young women dressed as brides and to the small children who are sent off to be "Tested"? In this episode, Teacher's Book takes on mystical qualities, and, once again, the kids' interrelationships and their desperate struggle to help one another survive make mesmerizing reading. Be advised: the ending is another cliffhanger that's guaranteed to leave readers anxious for the final volume. Sally Estes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperTeen
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0060080493
• ISBN 13: 9780060080495
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240