The Knife of Never Letting Go

Ness, P. (2008). The knife of never letting go. Boston, MA: Candlewick Press. This futuristic novel is set on New World, which is 64 years from the Old World. A germ is released and all the women died and all the men can now hear each other's thoughts. When exploring the swamp with his dog, Todd discovers a place without noise. He returns home to tell his adoptive parents and they quickly tell him he must leave. He soon discovers to source of no noise is a mute girl. We follow Todd as he is on the run from others and how he discovers more to the New World that he thought was there. This is the first in the series so the novel ends in Todd returning home so Viola can get the help needed to survive. I would recommend the next books The Ask and the Answer along with Monsters of Men to any student that enjoyed this first book. The setting plays an important role in this book because it is what makes the book unique. We read all the time about teens with struggles at home and they run away to seek help or answers. The New World, another planet, is unique because we see what the possibility of a new planet might look like through the eyes of the author. Is it different than what we have?