I've had this on my reading list for a while, so I was psyched when it was one of my first Cybils-related holds to arrive. Hall's debut didn't disappoint. The dystopia laid out is clever, with exposition unfolding through Rachel's history lessons and discussions. Although it quickly becomes obvious that this book is laying out the foundation for a series, this method of allowing the story to unfold through dialogue doesn't feel forced or unnatural. Several of the adult characters have Secrets. And the book ends with one secret that is easy to see coming, but is dropped so swiftly at the end that you can't help but groan when you realize you are going to have to wait to know more. All sorts of terrible fates have occurred -- high taxes, labor pools, highly secured borders, government lies and conspiracies, nuclear attacks -- that sort of make this book an upper elementary school media specialist's dream.

During a recent class, we discussed the NY Time's recent article on picture books, and whether or not our students agreed there was an age limit for reading them. As an example, I introduced We Are The Ship and before you knew it, we were having a serious, unplanned discussion on race, ethnicity, current immigration laws and art. My heart swelled three sizes Grinch style that day, as I realized some of the lessons I was going to be capable of having with these children. There are some great resources for teachers on Hall's website if you feel as compelled to discuss this in your classroom as I do.

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This book reminded me of "House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer, "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, and "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld. If you like those, you'll like this.

It's about a girl who lives in the U.S. (that's "Unified States") years after the Line was set up to keep people in and out. A bomb was dropped during a war that the U.S. really was the bad guy in, though the textbooks and "official" stories have all been changed (sound familiar?), and the radiation caused them to seal off the U.S. from part of itself, now called "Away". So Rachel is curious about the Line and Away and the Others (the people living in Away) and her mother has a past as a revolutionary and is hiding from the government, which has turned in to an attacker of its people rather than a protector of its people.

So it's a fast read, young adult novel, but I sense there are more to come.

The Line was not at all what I was expecting, in both good and bad ways. The Line is Teri Hall's debut novel and I definitely enjoyed it. I really can't wait for the next book in the series but there is at least a year wait.

The characters in The Line weren't the greatest but I liked them. They all seemed to have secrets and that was one of the main things that kept me reading. I was glad that most of the secrets were revealed in this book and I don't have to wait for the sequel to find them out but there are some questions that weren't answered. Also, I will admit that most of the secrets weren't easily guessed by me. It made the book a lot more interesting.

Sadly, the plot dragged. It took me forever to finish The Line and it was only 220 pages. Noting happened for about half the book. I couldn't get into the story until something finally happened but I am glad I didn't give up because it got better. The story picked up a lot close to the end and left me hanging. I want the second book now so I can find out what happens next.

Overall, The Line is a good debut but just an okay story. The second book, Away, is high on my wish-list, though, because I think it will really take off. Even though this one was a bit boring I do recommend it because I think it's going to be a unique series.

It says this book was written in a "mesmerizing prose," but I don't think so. I felt the writing was very flat. I felt like I was reading a book for middle or elementary kids even though this book is supposedly aimed at young adult readers. The main character, Rachel, was hard to 'kinec' with. Her age was never mentioned at all through out the whole book, so I wasn't sure how I could identify with her. She sounded like an eleven-year-old at times and a fifteen-year-old at other times.

The beginning portion of the book has no dialogue whatsoever. There's a lot of explaining and things about orchids that I found quite boring. It took quite awhile to get to the action. There's also not much description concerning some of the settings like the town. The story only got better in the last couple pages of the book - seriously. Everything before that was pretty predictable, but I found the cliff-hanger ending a bit predictable as well and really abrupt.

I see that there is a sequel that will be out soon. I hope it will be better in terms of writing and explaining a lot of things in a way that won't cause the reader to get bored.

Let me say that this idea was interesting enough. The names were a bit...odd if you ask me. I liked what happened, but it seems like it has a bad cliff hanger. I feel like Pathik and Rachel are going to have a romance or a whirlwind adventure.
The story was good. It seemed a bit...slow to me. I didn't really like it...

Was captivated throughout the entirety of this book, even if some of the scenes are sort of slow.

3.5

No spoilers

I enjoyed this. Granted, there were a few slightly slow bits, but not many. Overall, it was written very well. The plot was great. I liked the characters muchly, and it was basically fun!

The only thing that actually irritated me was the fact that I could never quite tell how old Rachel was. Was she 12-13? Or more like 16-17? Or am I wrong altogether, and she's somewhere in between?

Nonetheless, if there's a sequel [which... I certainly hope there is based on that ending, lol], I will absolutely get it! I very much want to know what happens :D

Rachel has lived her entire life close to "The Line" that divides the US from "Away," and while she's heard rumors about Away she really has no idea what if anything is so scary there. Then one day she meets some one from Away who needs her help.

This is a quick read set in a dystopian future where the government rules with a tight fist, and no one does anything without permission. Fear rules everyone's lives, and it's hard to know who to trust. The story is told from the perspective of Rachel, her mother, and her mother's employer. There are a couple of interesting revelations and a cliff hanger ending that will keep readers wanting more.

Wow...no love for the cliff-hanger ending, Teri. The book's pretty good though. Typical YA "brave kid resists in horribly unjust dystopian future" stuff.