The Raging Ones

Gr 8 Up—Mykal, Franny, and Court live in an unforgiving world where they know the day they're going to die. It's not a tragedy for everyone; Influentials could live for more than 100 years. Unfortunately, none of the trio have that opportunity because they are slated to die young. But then they all dodge their deathday. Nobody they know has ever done that before, and they team up when a strange psychic connection links them. Court is determined to get them into the mysterious Stardust program because he sees it as their best chance of survival. The three are tested constantly and must trust in their link to make it in a world that doesn't care for them. This book takes plenty of detours to keep readers intrigued, although the psychic connection is never satisfactorily explained. Although the Stardust thread is the main story, there are several subplots that might be confusing. Also, two of the main characters are not interested at all in exploring why they lived past their deathdays, which feels incongruent to the narrative. There are more questions than answers in this book; hopefully a sequel will provide some closure.