Publication Date: May 2012
Blurb:
Everyone gets the Mark. It gives all the benefits of citizenship. Yet if getting the Mark is such a good thing, then why does it feel so wrong?
Set in a future North America that is struggling to recover after famine and global war, “Swipe” follows the lives of three kids caught in the middle of a conflict they didn’t even know existed. United under a charismatic leader, every citizen of the American Union is required to get the Mark on their 13th birthday in order to gain the benefits of citizenship.
The Mark is a tattoo that must be swiped by special scanners for everything from employment to transportation to shopping. It’s almost Logan Langly’s 13th birthday and he knows he should be excited about getting the Mark, but he hasn’t been able to shake the feeling he’s being watched. Not since his sister went to get her Mark five years ago . . . and never came back.
When Logan and his friends discover the truth behind the Mark, will they ever be able to go back to being normal teenagers?
What To Expect:
Swipe is a crossover between MG and YA fiction with a mix of teen and pre-teen characters. Readers can expect a high-tech world, shifting alliances, young love, and a quest for truth.
Content Warnings:
Language: None
Sexual Content: None
Violence: Moderate – Non graphic instances of teen boys roughhousing, which leads to bloody noses. A raid by government agents results in a death. Some instances of kidnapping and restraining
Substance Use: Mild – No partying or alcohol. Drugs are administered by teens, and again by government officials, to knock someone out.
Prejudices: The entire story lays out the divide between people who received the Mark and those who didn’t. The Markless are essentially outcasts and treated as bums by the Marked.
Religious Themes: While not explained outright, the Mark is connected to the mark of the beast in Revelation 13 and the story adheres to the details laid out in that chapter of the Bible.
Other Topics: Moderate – Government control and overreach, teen defiance, broken friendships.
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