Alex London is better known as C. Alexander London, author of the Accidental Adventures series for the middle grade crowd. But here he crashes onto the YA scene with a futuristic spin on Sid Fleischman's Newbery Medal–winning The Whipping Boy.
In an unfair society where civilization is far from free, 16-year-old orphan Sydney Carton (named after the character from A Tale of Two Cities) has amassed 18 years of debt, owed to the Xelon Corporation. Syd is a proxy to Knox, a rich patron he's never met; he was contracted as a child to accept all of Knox's punishments until he turns 18. When Knox crashes a stolen car, killing the passenger, Syd must pay the price for Knox's crimes: theft, trespassing, destruction of property and homicide. Eventually, Knox is confronted with the boy who was not only tortured for Knox's crime, but who also had his debt extended for another 16 years in a work colony. For once, Knox decides he owes Syd, and must save his life.
Writing in a third-person narrative from both characters' perspectives, London weaves in unexpected romance, high-tech gadgetry and provocative subthemes about imprisonment and bullying. This ambitious thriller hits an emotional chord when Knox experiences true guilt for the first time as it dawns on him that Syd is a fellow human being, undeserving of his beatings. A big twist and heroic ending will leave readers eager for more. --Adam Silvera, Paper Lantern Lit marketing assistant and former bookseller