Darkest Minds, The-A Darkest Minds Novel, Book 1 (Hardcover)
Winter 2012 Kids Next List
“A disease, Ideopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration or IAAN, is killing children. Any child who survives ends up with special mental powers of varying types and strengths. Frightened by their new abilities, the government establishes camps for the rehabilitation of these children. Instead, as our heroine Ruby finds, they are nothing more than brutal prisons, filled with mind-numbing activities and armed guards who readily kill anyone they deem a threat. Despite the rather bleak scenario, this is, at its heart, both a coming-of-age tale and a love story as Ruby comes to terms with her abilities and the new world in which she must survive.”
— Lynn Riggs, Books & Company, Oconomowoc, WI
Staff Reviews
" I loved this book! I couldn't put it down, it's fast paced and engaging from the first, right through to the last page.It follows Ruby who wakes up one day and her life has completely changed - for a reason she hardly understands. She's taken from her parents, and ends up in a 'rehabilitation camp' designed for other children who are 'dangerous' like she is. She manages to escape, but quickly finds herself in the hands of people who are trying to use her powers for their own purposes. Escaping again, she sets off on her own until she finds a small group of kids who are on the run like her. They join up to try and find the rumored East River community where children with abilities are safe from the government and their camps.Once at the camp though, things are not what they seemed at first, and soon Ruby finds herself needing to escape the situation again. But this time it's harder to tell who she should be running from, and what the right thing to do it." - Melodie
— Melodie