The Knife of Never Letting Go: Chaos Walking: Book One

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

prentisstown Isn’t Like Other Towns. Everyone Can Hear Everyone Else’s Thoughts In An Overwhelming, Never-ending Stream Of Noise. Just A Month Away From The Birthday That Will Make Him A Man, Todd And His Dog, Manchee — Whose Thoughts Todd Can Hear, Too, Whether He Wants To Or Not — Stumble Upon An Area Of Complete Silence. They Find That In A Town Where Privacy Is Impossible, Something Terrible Has Been Hidden — A Secret So Awful That Todd And Manchee Must Run For Their Lives. But How Do You Escape When Your Pursuers Can Hear Your Every Thought?

furiously Paced, Terrifying, Exhilarating, And Heartbreaking, The Knife Of Never Letting Go Is A Book That Haunts Your Imagination. - Sunday Telegraph (uk)

a Penetrating Look At . . . What It Takes To Be A Man In A Society Gone Horribly Wrong. - Booklist, Starred Review

a Series Opener As Promising As It Is Provocative. - The Horn Book

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chased By A Madman Preacher And Possibly The Rest Of His Townsfolk As Well, Young Todd Hewitt Flees His Settlement On A Planet Where War With The Natives Has Killed All The Women And Infected The Men With A Germ That Broadcasts Their Thoughts Aloud For All To Hear. This Cacophonous Thought-cloud Is Known As Noise And Is Rendered With Startling Effectiveness On The Page. The First Of Many Secrets Is Revealed When Todd Discovers An Unsettling Hole In The Noise, And Quickly Realizes That He Lives In A Much Different World Than The One He Thought He Did. Some Of The Central Conceits Of The Drama Can Be Hard To Swallow, But The Pure Inventiveness And Excitement Of The Telling More Than Make Up For It. Narrated In A Sort Of Pidgin English With Crack Dramatic And Comic Timing By Todd And Featuring One Of The Finest Talking-dog Characters Anywhere, This Troubling, Unforgettable Opener To The Chaos Walking Trilogy Is A Penetrating Look At The Ways In Which We Reveal Ourselves To One Another, And What It Takes To Be A Man In A Society Gone Horribly Wrong. The Cliffhanger Ending Is As Effective As A Shot To The Gut.

(Chaos Walking #1) SUMMARY: An unflinching novel about the impossible choices of growing up, by an award-winning writer. Imagine you're the only boy in a town of men. And you can hear everything they think. And they can hear everything you think. Imagine you don't fit in with their plans... Todd Hewitt is just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man. But his town has been keeping secrets from him. Secrets that are going to force him to run... Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Prentisstown, a town where everyone can hear your thoughts. One month before he is due to become a man Todd discovers that the town has been keeping secrets from him, and he is going to have to run. Todd is soon going to learn about the dangerous choices of growing up. Suggested level: secondary Pursued by power-hungry Prentiss and mad minister Aaron, young Todd and Viola set out across New World searching for answers about his colony's true past and seeking a way to warn the ship bringing hopeful settlers from Old World.