Rachel lives with her mother at the edge of The Line, where the nation ends and the forbidden area beyond begins. As Rachel's curiosity about the world beyond grows, she begins to suspect there are large secrets her mother and her mother's employer, Ms. Moore, are withholding from her. After finding evidence of the people beyond, Rachel needs to find out more information, and a way to escape The Line.

I found this to be a very interesting dystopian novel, with a mostly believable future for the US. I do wish that there would have been more discovery of the events that led up to this point, rather than having the main character list the history off as lessons. The beginning was a little slow, as well, but once the story got moving it became more engaging. I look forward to reading the next one, because I think it will explain more of the politics of the world in which the book takes place.