The Knife of Never Letting Go

Ness, P. (2008). The knife of never letting go. Boston, MA: Candlewick Press. Todd is the last boy of his colony on an alien planet they call New World. His world is one of Noise where every thought can be heard and seen and he believes that all women are killed by the Noise. All of this changes the day he finds the quite in the swamp. Soon he discovers that the quite is a girl named Viola. He is told to flee by the two men who raised him and quickly finds that an Army is chasing both of them. They are after Haven, a town that the Army should not be able to penetrate but does. The book ends with a huge surprise and cliffhanger. This is a series, which is perfect for a teacher to use in class for a read aloud or book study because then the kids want to read even more. I know that I will be reading the rest of this series once June comes around! Todd is about to be a man but he has to redefine what his vocation will be. He thought it was going to be farming and raising sheep but it is not now that everything has changed. Todd is working through the task that adolescents should find a vocation in terms of Havighurst's theory of developmental tasks.