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Summary
Summary
Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.
Author Notes
Patrick Ness was born on October 17, 1971 near Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He studied English Literature and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. He was a corporate writer before moving to London in 1999. He taught creative writing at Oxford University and is a literary critic and reviewer for the Guardian and other major newspapers. He is the author of eight novels including The Rest of Us Just Live Here and a short story collection entitled Topics About Which I Know Nothing. His young adult novels include the Chaos Walking trilogy, More Than This, and Monsters of Men, which won the Carnegie Medal. A Monster Calls won the Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration, the Carnegie Medal, and was made into a movie and released in October 2016.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
In a settlement where women and girls died long ago and men and boys are infected by the Noise of others' thoughts, making silence impossible, 12-year-old Todd is startled to find a quiet space in the woods-and a girl. As he flees the power-hungry men of Prentiss-town with his dog, Manchee, and the girl, Viola, Todd discovers a world he never knew existed-a frightening landscape where life proves very fragile. Podehl flawlessly interprets raw emotion, dogmatic certainty, and canine simplicity, providing an anchor in the chaos of this tempestuous 2011 Odyssey Honor audiobook. Standard: Students will recognize the hazards that threaten today's environment and be able to discuss possible solutions. Learning Activity: This audiobook can provide a platform for writing about life today and possible implications for the future, starting with "what if." (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Set on the recently colonized New World, where "Noise" -- thoughts made audible -- is inescapable, this dark, dynamic trilogy translates brilliantly to audio. Todd (native of a suspiciously all-male settlement) and Viola (survivor of a crashed scout ship) uncover the violent results of human women's lack of Noise. Hostilities between two rival human leaders build inexorably toward war, while a third army composed of the indigenous Spackle rises. Separated and pressed into battle, the teens both make choices that compromise their ethics and their relationship. Nick Podehl as conscience-stricken Todd and Angela Dawe as gutsy Viola eloquently capture each desperate situation, embodying the suspense and intense emotion of Ness's powerful, rhythmic prose. As slave-cum-Spackle leader 1017, MacLeod Andrews masterfully keeps 1017's barely-held-in-check rage at the treatment of his kind simmering under the surface of his narration. Subtle sound effects emphasize how Noise (represented visually in the novels) is heard not with the ears but with the mind. Some inconsistencies in audio quality distract only briefly from this effective adaptation. katie bircher [review covers these titles: The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men] (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Todd Hewitt has never known quiet. Growing up on an alien planet where thoughts are broadcast and animals speak, 12-year-old Todd is the last boy in a town of men. He quickly goes from outcast to target after finding two surprises in Prentisstown's swamp: a wrecked colony spaceship and Viola, the first girl he has ever seen. In fleeing Prentisstown, Todd and Viola discover its ugly history and terrifying plans. Uneven pacing and an unbelievable premise hobble this work, Ness's first attempt at YA fiction. Events pile up and then freeze while Todd addresses an emotional crisis. Viola's page presence is so weak as to be forgettable, though Manchee, Todd's loyal dog, will grow on readers as the narrative progresses. Ness's attempt to develop Todd's character by including colloquialisms in nearly every aspect of the narrative only succeeds in driving readers out of the tale. Attempting to address adolescent angst, information overload and war, Ness ends up delivering merely noise. (Science fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Chased by a madman preacher and possibly the rest of his townsfolk as well, young Todd Hewitt flees his settlement on a planet where war with the natives has killed all the women and infected the men with a germ that broadcasts their thoughts aloud for all to hear. This cacophanous thought-cloud is known as Noise and is rendered with startling effectiveness on the page. The first of many secrets is revealed when Todd discovers an unsettling hole in the Noise, and quickly realizes that he lives in a much different world than the one he thought he did. Some of the central conceits of the drama can be hard to swallow, but the pure inventiveness and excitement of the telling more than make up for it. Narrated in a sort of pidgin English with crack dramatic and comic timing by Todd and featuring one of the finest talking-dog characters anywhere, this troubling, unforgettable opener to the Chaos Walking trilogy is a penetrating look at the ways in which we reveal ourselves to one another, and what it takes to be a man in a society gone horribly wrong. The cliffhanger ending is as effective as a shot to the gut.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2008 Booklist