by Marie Lu
Putnam
2011
305 pages
Watch the book trailer here
Brilliant, creative, completely captivating, and smoking hot, Legend is a thrilling dystopian novel that will grab both male and female dystopian fans and shake them up.
Day is a fifteen year old homeless thief and government terrorist. He is his country's most wanted criminal and super-thief. The government is searching for Day, but lucky for him, they don't have his fingerprints in their databases and they have no idea who he is or what he looks like. He is brilliant and cunning with disguises and planning and never leaves behind any clues.
The Republic controls all the laws, the citizens, the assets, the food, the electricity, and there is no such thing as freedom. Citizens born poor will remain poor unless one is lucky enough to score very high on the Republic's tests.
Those that don't make the grade--well, no one talks about what happens to them. But...Day knows...because he failed and was lucky enough and smart enough to escape death. Now he does everything he can to thwart the machine that is the evil government of the Republic. He keeps Tess safe, too. She joined him a few years back--a little orphan waif who helps him rummage for food and clothes. Day worries that his mother and two brothers may get the plague, and he checks on them secretly, not wishing to reveal himself and put them in danger.
June is born to a wealthy family and is highly trained due to her high scores on the Republic's test. In fact, June is selected by her superiors to hunt Day. She is the only soldier with the skill set likely to match his. After Day kills her brother, June is determined to bring Day to justice and impress the Republic.
Told by Day and June in alternating chapters, this taut thriller will keep teens on the edge of their seats and turning pages well past midnight. I couldn't put this novel down and read it in one sitting.
Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up. Some violence, some torture, public executions are mentioned, but nothing that is not on prime time television. If you have The Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Hunger Games in your collection, this novel is a good fit.
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