about the book
Just holding hands with a boy could get you cited for indecency. Having an illegitimate child could get you killed!
Since the war ended three years ago, America has changed big time. The Bill of Rights is no more. President Scarboro, a dictator, has declared his puritanical beliefs to be the national religion and has instituted his stringent Moral Statutes. The country now recognizes only traditional families and very strict gender roles. Enforced by the Moral Militia, those arrested disappear.
Ember Wittman is a non-citizen. Her mother is in non-compliance with Article 5. That Statute criminalizes the birth of a child out of wedlock. It doesn’t matter that Ember’s birth happened seventeen years ago, long before Scarboro’s statutes.
Though Ember tries her best to remain below the Militia’s radar, her free-spirited mother brazenly disobeys the rules. One day, the soldiers come and rip her from Ember’s arms. The worst part? One of the soldiers is Chase Jennings. Until a year ago, he was Ember’s next door neighbor and the only boy she ever loved.
While her mother is carted off, Ember is taken to a repressive reform school. After months of threats and beatings, the stone-faced soldier returns, a boy she barely recognizes. He has been ordered to take Ember to the tribunal, where her mother awaits her verdict.
But Chase has other plans. What will happen when he goes AWOL and takes Ember with him?
about the author
Rocking spandex and slouch socks, dorky Kristen Simmons grew up in the 1980s on a Reno ranch in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. An avid reader, she wanted her life to be as adventurous as her favorite authors’ tales. So she made up her own stories…big lies…which often got her into trouble.
To help channel her overactive imagination, she was taken out of class for a creative writing program. It was a good fit for her.
They didn’t care about grammar! By age eleven, she was looking for an agent.
Kristen continued her geeky ways in high school, playing the marching band’s vibraphone, peddling Girl Scout cookies, and winning the top state Drum Major title. She also met “THE BOY!” The cool dude sat next to her in Biology, and after they sorted out the “geek versus jock” thing, they became inseparable and had many adventures together—most of which ended with some sort of punishment. When she was moving away, he stood in front of her car and declared his undying love. “The Boy” eventually became Kristen’s hubby. and along with their son, and Rudy the greyhound, they live in Tampa, Florida.
Kristen attended several colleges before earning degrees in social work from the University of Nevada. With a passion for helping others, she became a mental health therapist. An addiction to too much chocolate led her to become a Jazzercise instructor. Her tendency to still tell whopping tales led her to become a writer! Article 5 was inspired by a protestor outside a children’s book store who wanted to ban a book that had witches in it. Kristen started to wonder what would happen if other things were banned.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview : Miss Literati
Also by Kristen Simmons:
Three Point (Article 5, Book 3). Tor Teen. 2014.
Breaking Point (Article 5, Book 2). Tor Teen. 2013.
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