The Young World (Young World Series #1)

by Chris Weitz

Overview

"Chris Weitz has made a beautiful transition from writing and directing films to novels. The Young World is populated with characters you won't forget and a story as fresh and urgent as Divergent."—James Patterson, #1 NY Times bestselling author of Maximum Ride.

Welcome to New York, a city ruled by teens.


After a mysterious Sickness wipes out the rest of the population, the young survivors assemble into tightly run tribes. Jefferson, the reluctant leader of the Washington Square tribe, and Donna, the girl he's secretly in love with, have carved out a precarious existence among the chaos.


But when a fellow tribe member discovers a clue that may hold the cure for the Sickness, five teens set out on a life-altering road trip, exchanging gunfire with enemy gangs, escaping cults and militias, braving the wilds of the subway—all in order to save humankind.


This first novel from acclaimed film writer/director Chris Weitz is the heart-stopping debut of an action-packed trilogy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780594752974
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	07/29/2014
Series:	Young World Series , #1
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Chris Weitz is an Oscar-nominated writer and director. His films include Twilight: New Moon, A Better Life, About a Boy, The Golden Compass, American Pie, Cinderella, and the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The Young World is his first YA trilogy.

Editorial Reviews

Chris Weitz, the author of this book, is a screenwriter and director, perhaps contributing reasons to this post-apocalyptic thriller's cinematic feel. Told from the perspectives of three teens, The Young World drops you into a New York City totally bereft of adults, all of whom have been wiped out by a plague. As rival groups battle for survival, a few brave young people search for ways to banish the dreaded Sickness. An exciting series well-worth a place on your reading calendar.

…Weitz is a successful screenwriter because he is a fine—at times terrific—storyteller. Dystopian fantasies depend on details, and here they are often unforgettably right.

The New York Times Book Review - Adam Gopnik

04/28/2014
Screenwriter/director Weitz (The Golden Compass; About a Boy) kicks off a post-apocalyptic trilogy with a riveting adventure in which teenagers—the only ones immune to a fatal plague known as the Sickness—have inherited the Earth and are fighting over the remnants of New York City. Narration alternates between Jefferson, the cautious and protective leader of the Washington Square Clan, and Donna, who Jefferson is falling for. When one of the group’s members, Brainbox, discovers a clue that might explain the origin of the Sickness, a few members of the tribe embark on an epic cross-town quest for information. As they make their way through the ruined city, they contend with cultists, cannibals, slavers, wild animals, and more. Weitz offers a satisfying YA interpretation of the Greek classic Anabasis, brimming with grisly encounters and gallows humor. He also finds room to touch upon issues of race, class, commercialism, and sexuality in nuanced moments that are sharply juxtaposed with the near-constant dangers and seeming hopelessness of the larger picture. A game-changing cliffhanger will have readers ready for the next book. Ages 15–up. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, William Morris Endeavor. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"A broken NYC is so compelling that readers will find it hard to put this book down."—School Library Journal


"A post-apcalyptic teen novel that's far from just another post-apocalytic teen novel."—Kirkus


"Telling his story in the alternating voices of Jeff and Donna, noted film director Weitz, in his first YA novel, has done a good job of meticulously building his postapocalyptic world."—Booklist

From the Publisher

04/01/2014
Gr 9 Up—A postapocalyptic novel told from the point of view of three teens in New York City who have banded together after a mysterious sickness wipes out the entire population of children and adults. The survivors are faced not only with the breakdown of society but also certain death when their hormonal levels even out. When food dwindles in the neighborhood where their tribe has hunkered down, they decide to risk a trip to the main branch of the New York Public Library to find a scientific study that may explain the origins of the sickness. On their quest, they encounter a group of fanatical cannibals, a misogynistic gang of entrepreneurs, mole people living in the subway system, and a very organized group creating weapons from 3-D printers. In the course of their journey lives are lost, bravery tested, and childhood relationships become something more. What they eventually find is a research island where secret experiments are being fiercely guarded, but the brainiac of the group is able to trick their captors into letting him try to find a cure. A giant cliff-hanger at the end ensures that a sequel will soon follow. While the plot employs some very predictable story lines the characters are interesting, the action moves quickly, and the context of a broken NYC is so compelling that readers will find it hard to put this book down. Chapters written from alternating perspectives offer the chance to see how the same situations are interpreted by either the boy next door, the sweet girl with the tough exterior, or the intellectual with traits common to people with Asperger's. At times the dialogue inexplicably changes from that of a regular book to a movie script, which can be jarring. However, readers will likely breeze by this minor distraction while they're frantically flipping pages to find out what happens next.—Sunnie Lovelace, Wallingford Public Library, CT

School Library Journal

2014-04-09
A twisted Neverland where you don't get older, you just die. As if traffic and congestion weren't enough to cope with in Manhattan, the rapid-fire, incurable Sickness has begun eliminating New Yorkers. Strangely, the only unaffected residents are teenagers. Stranger still, once the surviving teens reach their 18th birthdays, fever, coughs, delirium and death swiftly follow. A short life means there's no reason for civilized order, so New York devolves into Mad Max-like chaos. Union Square and Washington Square are no longer overpriced zip codes, they're pocket territories for tribes of gun-toting teens as likely to trade a pig for people as they are to resort to cannibalism. When the brainiac of one of these tribes theorizes that he can cure the Sickness, a cluster of five dives headfirst into the task of either saving civilization or prematurely ending their already doomed lives. Inclusion of New York landmarks lends an authenticity that makes the chaos frighteningly plausible. Through the dual narration of Jefferson, the focal tribe leader, and Donna, his crush, veteran screenwriter and director Weitz presents a veritable dichotomy of literary and commercial; Jefferson's chapters are intellectually elevated, while Donna often sounds like an elongated Facebook post. The action perseveres, the sex, blood and violence dominate, and race and class clashes continue headlong into the sequel. A post-apocalyptic teen novel that's far from just another post-apocalyptic teen novel. (Post-apocalyptic adventure. 13 & up)

Kirkus Reviews

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