Naughts & Crosses

NAUGHTS & CROSSES by Malorie Blackman
Category: Science Fiction
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 5/31/05
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce
Rating: 5 Stars

In NAUGHTS & CROSSES, the author creates a very believable alternate world that is almost like our own--but the main
difference is a major one. Everything you think you know about race relations and prejudice holds true, but is switched. The
ruling class to which Sephy Hadley's family belongs are the black Crosses, named for their supposed closeness to God. The
other, the white Naughts, like Callum and his family, are second-class citizens. In this world, it's unacceptable for a Naught
and a Cross to be real friends, and unthinkable for them to fall in love. Callum and Sephy are breaking all the rules of the
society they live in.

The two have known each other from a very young age, when Callum's mother worked in the Hadley household. Even after
she loses her job, though, Sephy and Callum remain secretly close. They meet in secrecy, forced to tell lies and make up
excuses, but they never stop seeing each other, no matter how difficult it is. Soon, though, they'll see each other every
day--but that's not as good as it sounds. A new law has been passed, and a limited number of Naughts will now be allowed
to attend Cross schools. Callum has been accepted into Sephy's school, and Sephy's excited to see her best friend more
often. Callum, however, knows that letting their friendship be public could prove very dangerous for both of them. Things
continue to get worse when Sephy and her mother are nearly caught in a terrorist bombing. Sephy's life is saved when
Callum pulls her out of the building just in time, but nobody's fooled--that's no coincidence. Suspicion falls on Callum's family.

Callum's father is the prime suspect in planting the bomb, supposedly on the orders of a radical Naught terrorist group, the
Liberation Militia, or L.M. They're devoted to their goals of rights for Naughts, and they'll go to any length to achieve them.
This world even has a parallel to Martin Luther King, Jr.; Alex Luther is an activist whose goal is to achieve equality
peacefully. Callum's mother is a supporter of his, but Callum's father and brother don't believe that Alex Luther's way of
doing things will actually get anything done. The events that unfold after the bombing threaten not only Sephy and Callum's
relationship, but their very lives and the lives of those around them.

NAUGHTS & CROSSES is a fantastic story, and one that will keep your mind occupied long past the final pages. The
world created in Malorie Blackman's novel is one that is much like our own, and inspires a lot of "what if?" questions. What
if that was our world? It's not so far off to imagine. How would our lives be different? They almost certainly would be. You
wouldn't be where you are now. You wouldn't be who you are now; everything would be remarkably different, but still so
much the same.

Malorie Blackman's writing does plenty to draw you in and keep your attention with the story, not bothering with the
excessive and often boring detail used by some authors. It's definitely a page-turner! Sephy and Callum are very
well-developed main characters, and the secondary characters are quite believable, as well. The story is told in alternating
chapters narrated by Sephy and Callum, which really adds a lot to it. Sephy and Callum are remarkable people, showing the
strength that love can have, the bridges it can cross, and the determination to see past what's on the outside. That last quality
is one that is, sadly, not as common in our world (or Sephy's and Callum's) as it should be. Sephy and Callum also show
how willing children are to love, regardless of the prejudices of their world, before their minds are poisoned by their elders.
Sephy and Callum became friends at a young age and, remarkably, they stayed that way (and became more), despite the
prejudices of their society. NAUGHTS & CROSSES is a remarkable book, one that you won't want to put down once
you've started reading.