The Hill
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
In the near future, a group of girls survive by their own wits and follow the laws of the Manual on the Hill, a reclaimed garbage dump they call home. The cardinal rule? Men and boys spell danger.
After a Departure Ceremony releases the eleven oldest girls back to the Mainland, Wren becomes their new leader, and she's desperate to do a good job.So when one of the girls goes missing only a few hours into her new position, Wren makes the fateful decision to leave the Hill in search of the girl—only to encounter boys for the first time in her life. Is it a coincidence, then, that the Hill is attacked while she's gone?
In order to survive and lead her community, Wren must sort fact from fiction, ally from enemy, and opportunity from threat. The Hill is a feminist dystopian novel that explores gender, power, and the search for truth in a world defined by scarcity, distrust, and gender politics. Gritty and compassionate, Bryan's unforgettable novel shines a light on the consequences of consumerism and environmental neglect while reminding us what it takes to be a girl in this world.
—BOOKLIST
—KIRKUS REVIEWS
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
For 67 years, the female-led Colony has sent infant girls to the Hill, an island landfill off the Mainland, for survival training. Developing skills using the Manual—instructions meant to warn against the dangers of males as well as prepare the girls for life on the unruly Mainland when they turn 15—Hill denizens are given assignments as hunters, collectors, foragers, suppliers, or mothers. When 14-year-old Wren is made leader as Head Girl, she learns of strangers on the island, and with best friend Quinn, heads into a Manual-forbidden forest to search for a missing girl. But when the forest reveals others living on the island, Wren and Quinn discover that the Manual holds as many lies as truths. Facing an attack by Mainlanders and destruction of their beloved Hill, Quinn and Wren fight to keep the girls safe while confronting doubts about the Colony and Quinn's jealousy over Wren's new love interest. Bryan (The Figgs, for adults) fashions a dystopian adventure brimming with gutsy action sequences. While the worldbuilding can feel slim, featuring little character or situational development (the girls know the properties of most plants but do not seem to understand procreation), thought-provoking gender dynamics drive the charged plot. Ages 11–up.
