Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go
Author: Patrick Ness
Genre: book club pick, book-to-movie, scifi, dystopian, young adult

At the beginning of The Knife of Never Letting Go, our protagonist, Todd Hewitt is one month away from his 13th birthday. Thirteenth birthdays are special in Prentisstown since this is when a boy  "becomes a man." Becoming a man in Prentisstown is a mysterious process, and since Todd is the youngest resident, he is the last boy to reach manhood.

By now you're probably wondering when the girls of Prentisstown are considered women. Well, this never happens because there are no women in Prentisstown. They were killed by the Noise germ before Todd was born. Not only is Prentisstown a unique community because all the residents are males, it's also unique because the residents can hear each other's thoughts- they even hear the thoughts of animals (which comes in handy when trying to avoid crocodiles in the nearby swamp). The males of Prentisstown hear each other's thoughts all the time and there is no way to tune out the Noise (and it's invasive, frustrating, and uncomfortable, to say the least).

While Todd is literally counting the days to adulthood, he makes a startling discovery in the swamp that changes his life forever. His discovery is dangerous, although he doesn't know why at first, and since thoughts are public information in Prentisstown, the older men soon find out about his secret. Todd is sent away from town by his two adoptive fathers who give him a pre-packed backpack full of supplies, his mother's journal, and these vague instructions: "You ain't coming back, Todd... you can't...There's a map...but don't look at it, not till yer well outta town, okay? Just go to the swamp. You'll know what to do from there" (49, 51).

While running from the Prentisstown residents, Todd finds a girl in the swamp (Viola). Todd learns that Viola has secrets of her own- secrets he can't hear. Todd's worldview is literally expanded in his escape. He was told that Prentisstown was the only settlement on New World; Todd learns this is false. He also learns that the other settlements know more about the true history of Prentisstown than he does- a history he was shielded from for his own protection.

This was an awesome book- I read 300 pages in a few hours only to find out it ends on a cliffhanger!! This book club pick inspired a lively discussion about power, control, and masculinity. After you read it, let me know what themes stood out to you. Stay tuned for the movie version to be released in 2020 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2076822/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1).