The Last Lie by Patricia Forde - ADVISABLE

The Last Lie (The List #2) by Patricia Forde, 288 pages. Sourcebooks Kids, August 2020. $17

Language: G (1 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content:G ; Violence: PG (danger, fighting)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Lotta and the Creators may have defeated John Noa, but that hasn’t meant freedom for Ark.Amelia has taken over Noa’s work and is more brutal than he was. When a spy infiltrates the safe house, most of the Creators are captured, but Letta and Marco escape to the forest. There they find out the true depravity of Amelia’s plan -taking babies and raising them without language. She will need to gather and convince allies in order to free both Ark and the babies.

Younger students who want to read the Hunger Games but aren’t quite ready for the brutality will very much enjoy Forde’s duology.  Any teacher will find ripe fruit for discussion along many different paths. It is especially a great place to discuss why slave owners refused to allow their slaves to learn to read. Knowledge, words, hold so much power.

Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher