cover image Nine

Nine

Zach Hines. HarperTeen, $17.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-06-256726-0

Hines’s chilling debut takes place in an alternate America where each person gets nine lives. The first eight times someone dies, he or she “Burns” (moves on to the next life, returning in a brand-new body). To prevent overpopulation, people are offered incentives to be euthanized in licensed extinguishment clinics on a set schedule, but Burners hold illegal, elaborately staged, and gruesome suicide parties. At 17, Julian Dex is still a One; he needs to Burn to help his family’s dire financial situation, but he’s haunted by his mother’s disappearance and descent into retrogression. He’s also worried about his best friend, who wants to join Lakeshore Academy’s Burners Club, led by charismatic, cruel Nicholas. When Julian meets enigmatic Cody and her friends, who don’t Burn, he learns secrets that could change their lives, and deaths, forever. Hines’s fast-paced tale effectively explores the insidious intentions of a surveillance state bent on controlling mortality, and offers an intriguing group of teens who are worth rooting for as they unravel a truly terrifying conspiracy. Ages 14–up. [em]Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Aug.) [/em]