Plus One - Hardcover

Fama, Elizabeth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374360073 ISBN 13: 9780374360078

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2014

Synopsis

Divided by day and night and on the run from authorities, star-crossed young lovers unearth a sinister conspiracy in this compelling romantic thriller.

Seventeen-year-old Soleil Le Coeur is a Smudge―a night dweller prohibited by law from going out during the day. When she fakes an injury in order to get access to and kidnap her newborn niece―a day dweller, or Ray―she sets in motion a fast-paced adventure that will bring her into conflict with the powerful lawmakers who order her world, and draw her together with the boy she was destined to fall in love with, but who is also a Ray.
Set in a vivid alternate reality and peopled with complex, deeply human characters on both sides of the day-night divide, Elizabeth Fama's Plus One is a brilliantly imagined drama of individual liberty and civil rights, and a fast-paced romantic adventure story.

About this title

About the Author

Elizabeth Fama is the author of Monstrous Beauty, which was a 2013 Odyssey Honor Audiobook. She lives with her family in Chicago, Illinois.

Reviews

Gr 9 Up—In the alternative reality of Fama's plot-driven latest, American society has been divided into "Smudges," people who are awake at night, and "Rays," privileged individuals who get to live during the day. Sixteen-year-old Sol le Coeur is a factory-working Smudge who is willing to risk everything to make sure her ill grandfather holds his great granddaughter before he dies. Her plan lands her in the care of a young Ray medical apprentice, handsome D'Arcy Benoît. Sol's mission goes awry when she accidentally kidnaps the son of the Night Minister. She and D'Arcy are thrown together on a romance-laced adventure that takes them from the caves of a nature preserve to the steam tunnels of Chicago University. As they run from the authorities, the teens uncover government and family secrets. At times, the language can be awkward or clumsy (e.g., "Thousands of years of this running water must have carved the cave, with a serene patience that only nature and cancer victims had."), and Sol and D'Arcy are not particularly memorable heroes—dystopian fans have seen their likes before. With this title, it's the breakneck-paced story, which takes place over the course of a few days, and characters such as the Noma (F-bomb-dropping, heavy-makeup wearing rebels) that will keep readers invested until the cliff-hanger ending.—Chelsey Philpot, formerly at School Library Journal

In an alternate present, an epidemic has divided the world into Night and Day. America has segregated into Smudges (those who live and work at night) and Rays (daytime dwellers). Sol Le Coeur is a Smudge who wants to give her dying grandfather something special: a chance to meet his great-granddaughter. Sol’s brother was reassigned to Day years ago, so Sol devises a scheme to kidnap her Ray niece just before curfew. But when the plan goes awry, she is thrown together with Ray medical apprentice D’Arcy Benoit, and together they uncover a dangerous government plot concerning the Smudge population. From the start, the story sends the reader right into the action and slowly unveils backstory as to why the U.S. moved to such segregation. Told over the course of just a few days, the plot’s twists and surprises make for an eventful read. Bonus: a backstory to the romance, adds more depth than in the typical love-at-first-sight tale. A vividly imagined adventure. Grades 9-12. --Sarah Bean Thompson

Edition details

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0374360073
• ISBN 13: 9780374360078
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384