Larkin's Book Bloggers

Courtesy of Teen Book Scene, I had the opportunity to read a copy of Kristen Simmons’s debut novel, Article 5.  Futuristic, dramatic, and suspenseful, Article 5 had me hooked right from the beginning.

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.  The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.  There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don’t come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard for her to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It’s hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.

Article 5 is one of those books that – in the beginning – you really have to wrap your head around.  Federal Bureau of Reformation?  Moral Statutes?  Moral Militia?  As with any futuristic novel, there’s a lot to digest and understand at first.  But Kristen Simmons does a great job throwing you right into the action and having the reader live the story with the characters.  After Ember is sent to Rehabilitation for an Article 5 Violation (no hints here, read the book!), she is thrown into a non-stop, horrific adventure – one featuring an evil Ms. Brock, the Sisters of Salvation, and tons of scary MM soldiers.  And Chase Jennings, Ember’s childhood crush, is one of those MM soldiers.  Yup – that’s definitely a twist, especially for Ember!  Who is Chase, really?  Where is Ember’s mother?  And how will Ember survive her own dramatic escape from the Girls’ Reformatory and Rehabilitation Center?  You will definitely want to read Article 5 to find out!

Mrs. L., EMS Blogger

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 23rd, 2012 at 7:42 am and is filed under Fiction - action/adventure, Fiction - Fantasy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.