Before

Gr 4 Up–In the not-so-distant future, Leadership live by the phrase, “Efficiency is key for productivity, and productivity is key for safety.” Leadership controls all aspects of society. Thirteen-year-old Wren Capella, like all kids her age, is living at school when her studies are interrupted. Leadership announces a newly imposed rule. Those who have moved from the Producer Phase of life into Elderly Phase will be removed from society and placed in a facility where they can live with minimal drain of society’s resources. Wren’s beloved Gran will be moved from her parents’ home. Gran often tells Wren of The Before time when Leadership did not control society. Things only get worse when Wren goes home for the weekend to say her goodbyes to Gran and learns of another imposed rule. Children who require special assistance will be removed from their homes for re-education and placed in a permanent educational facility where they will create minimal drain on the resources of Producers. Wren’s four-year-old brother, Kael, struggles with speech and has been selected for re-education. Wren’s parents planned for this day. Knowing the danger if they all try to escape at once, they send Wren and Kael on their own through the desert to another land outside of the Leadership. With supplies, maps of an underground network of people and places, Wren and Kael take on the harrowing journey to freedom. Carter has crafted a breakneck-paced novel with an appealing and relatable hero in Wren. The novel is a page-turner that tweens who enjoy books like Divergent and The Giver will want to read.