Alis - Hardcover

Rich, Naomi

3.29

455 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670011258 ISBN 13: 9780670011254

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers, 2009

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At fourteen, Alis has never been outside her strict religious community. But when her parents arrange for her to marry a forty-year-old man, she flees desperately to the dangerous, unfamiliar city. She learns quickly that the only way to survive there is to become a thief?or worse. Facing an impossible choice between a forced marriage or life on the streets, Alis seizes control of her own fate. But the path she chooses sets off a disastrous chain of events that leave her accused of murder. Steadfastly loyal, Alis must decide: will she betray a loved one or sacrifice herself?

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About the Author:

This is Naomi Rich's debut novel. She lives in London, England.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7–10—Alis, 15, is betrothed against her wishes to Galen, the 40-something minister of Freeborne, a "Community of The Book" in an imagined, horse-drawn past. Outraged, she escapes to Two Rivers, another Bookish Community, where she earns the enmity of Thomas, a conservative religious reformer. She meets and falls in love with Luke, who is forced to flee with his grandparents because of their philosophical disagreements with Thomas. She goes to the big bad City, where she finds her runaway brother leading a Dickensian gang of young cutthroats and part-time prostitutes. She gains an ally in Edge, a girl who defends herself with a knife, but seeing that life there is a dead end, Alis eventually returns home and meekly submits to marriage to Galen. She is relieved that he does not force her to sleep with him, and life continues apace until Edge shows up, is startled by Galen's sudden appearance, and fatally wounds him. Thomas soon accumulates enough circumstantial evidence to charge Alis with murder, setting up the climactic trial. The story may be compelling to the intended audience, but the plot winds back on itself overmuch, with many characters, some of whom are stereotyped as "good" or "bad" as much by their physical description as by their actions, dropped by the wayside. While sexual undercurrents, hypocrisy, and religious repression dominate the tale, in the end Alis and Luke ride off into exile a bit older and perhaps more worldly-wise, but little different, really, than if they'd done so 100 pages earlier.—Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA
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