Age of Order

In this tense dystopian science fiction thriller, a high school track star from the wrong side of town gets a chance to attend a prestigious Manhattan school, but the cost could be more than she expects. A near-future New York, now the capital of the 49 states led by the faux-meritocratic Orderist movement, has become the exclusive realm of the “highborn” rich. Running has always been a haven for Daniela Machado, the fastest high school athlete in ragged Bronx City, but when she’s offered a place at Manhattan’s posh Tuck School, it’s only natural to be suspicious. Los richos, the superwealthy Orderist families of Manhattan, have little use for people like Daniela and her family. To most of her new classmates at Tuck, Daniela is just a “nope”—a normally produced embryo, born without the expensive genetic enhancements customary among the wealthy. When Daniela learns her brother is dying of a genetic disorder manufactured as part of a highborn plot that could turn Manhattan’s social and political structure upside down, she has to choose a side before it’s too late. North has created a near-future world that feels all too believable. Daniela is a pragmatic and compelling heroine whose voice will hold readers’ attentions and linger long after the story is done. (BookLife)