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9781481489232: Want
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1481489232 ISBN 13: 9781481489232
Verlag: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2019

Inhaltsangabe

“Fresh, compelling—and timely.” —Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Carve the Mark and the Divergent series
“Vividly conjured…positively chilling.” —The New York Times
“Spectacular.” —Buzzfeed

Set in a near-future Taipei plagued by pollution, a group of teens risk everything to save their city in this thrilling novel from critically acclaimed author Cindy Pon.

Jason Zhou survives in a divided society where the elite use their wealth to buy longer lives. The rich wear special suits, protecting them from the pollution and viruses that plague the city, while those without suffer illness and early deaths. Frustrated by his city’s corruption and still grieving the loss of his mother who died as a result of it, Zhou is determined to change things, no matter the cost.

With the help of his friends, Zhou infiltrates the lives of the wealthy in hopes of destroying the international Jin Corporation from within. Jin Corp not only manufactures the special suits the rich rely on, but they may also be manufacturing the pollution that makes them necessary.

Yet the deeper Zhou delves into this new world of excess and wealth, the more muddled his plans become. And against his better judgment, Zhou finds himself falling for Daiyu, the daughter of Jin Corp’s CEO. Can Zhou save his city without compromising who he is, or destroying his own heart?

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Cindy Pon is the author of Silver Phoenix, which was named one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth by Booklist, and one of 2009’s Best Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror by VOYA. Serpentine and Sacrifice were both Junior Library Guild selections and received starred reviews from School Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews, respectively. She also wrote Want, which is a Freeman Book Award Honorable Mention and Ruse. She is the cofounder of Diversity in YA with Malinda Lo and on the advisory board of We Need Diverse Books. Cindy is also a Chinese brush painting student of over a decade. Learn more about her books and art at CindyPon.com.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Want CH?PTER ONE THE KIDNAPPING
I watched the two you girls from the corner of my eye as the crowds surged around me. Eleven o’clock on a balmy June evening and the Shilin Night Market in Taipei was spilling over with mei shoppers looking for a way to cool themselves. Stores lined both sides of the narrow street, and music blared in Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English. The road was closed to traffic, overtaken by vendors with carts selling noodles and oyster omelets, cold juices and shakes. Others spread their merchandise on the ground over blankets, hawking cheap toys and knickknacks.

I slouched lower on the plastic table, faded black boots planted on a stool beneath, taking in the stench of cigarette smoke, stale beer, and sweat. I flipped my butterfly knife rhythmically between my fingers, enjoying the feel of cold steel and the sound of blade and handles snapping in my hand.

Men glanced at me warily, touching the places where they hid their own weapons. Girls clustered closer as they edged past, chattering. One mei girl, barely fifteen, raised her kohl-smudged eyes from her heap of chua bing smothered in red beans and smiled at me, electric blue bangs brushing against her lashes. Most teens were maskless tonight, wanting to have fun and pretend that they led lives from some other era, when going barefaced was normal. Pretend that they breathed good air.

The mei girl’s friend elbowed her and loudly uttered something about delinquent mei boys hiding their faces behind face masks. She cast a pointed glare in my direction. They sashayed past, legs bare beneath short, ruffled skirts, the friend with her nose in the air. Smiling girl’s pink mouth was now pursed in a pout.

“Hey,” I called.

She half turned, careful not to spill her iced dessert. Her black brows were raised, widening her dark eyes. I winked at her, spinning my knife, then tossed it in the air before catching it in one swift motion. She blushed, and her giggle carried to me even as her friend tugged her away, disappearing into the throngs.

But I never lost sight of the two you girls bent over a round tub, trying to toss plastic balls into floating dishes. The prize was a koi—genetically engineered to never grow beyond two inches—in iridescent oranges, reds, and greens. Hell, they probably glowed in the dark. The girls were flanked by three bodyguards, beefy mei boys with muscular arms crossed against their bulging chests.

I had volunteered to do this, because if I were caught, I alone would be prosecuted. I would be the only one to be put to death. My friends would be safe. They all had family, or someone who loved them. I was the dispensable one, and I would give my life to protect them.

A you boy strutted toward the girls, his features obscured by his glass helmet from this distance. We called them “bowl heads” in derision, as their helmets looked like fishbowls. His sleek suit was black, with an indigo dragon breathing orange flames woven down one long sleeve. The suit ensured that he got the best oxygen available, that his temperature was regulated, that he was always plugged in to the you communication system. The taller girl in the white-and-silver suit ignored him, intent on winning a koi in a jar, but her petite friend nodded to the bodyguards, and the you boy swaggered through.

I snorted under my breath.

They chatted, probably pulling up info on their com sys, assessing weight, height, and genetic makeup even as they exchanged first names. This was what it meant to be you, to have. To be genetically cultivated as a perfect human specimen before birth—vaccinated and fortified, calibrated and optimized. To have an endless database of information instantly retrievable within a second of thinking the query and displayed in helmet. To have the best air, food, and water, ensuring the longest possible life spans as the world went to rot around them.

Me, I’m like the other 95 percent of the meis in this country—without. We want and are left wanting. I’d be lucky if I lived to forty. I’m almost halfway there.

The you boy fiddled with his collar, then took his helmet off, handing it to one of the bodyguards with studied nonchalance. He coughed for a long time into his sleeve, attempting to adjust to the filth we breathed every day. What a rebel. Without his helmet, I got a better look at him. His blond hair was chin-length, streaked in red, his features Asian. He looked about seventeen.

He pulled a cigarette from a sleeve pocket and lit it, inhaling deeply, tilting his head to blow the smoke out. He leaned toward the petite you girl, his expression flirtatious. I watched as the taller girl threw them a glance, then turned back toward the tub. She was broad-shouldered yet slender, her suit decorated in neon pink lines with a jeweled Hello Kitty sewn above her heart. Real gemstones, no doubt. The way she tensed her shoulders told me she wasn’t pleased by the you boy’s intrusion.

I’d been studying the suits for my task. Victor had gotten his hands on all the relevant info. “You don’t want the more square helmets,” he had said, showing me images on the screen. “That’s an older model from two years ago. Any embellishment like jewels would be real. Nothing but the best for Jin’s suits. So the shinier the suit, the richer the you.”

Although the shorter girl’s purple suit was more eye-catching, the taller girl had probably $100K worth of diamonds stitched to her chest.

I tucked the knife away and retrieved two small items from a pouch strapped to my side. I wore a sleeveless black tee and black jeans to match. Not only did I blend in, but it allowed me to move with ease. I jumped off the table and stretched my arms overhead, flexing my shoulders.

Now or never.

I cut a quick path through the crowds, moving diagonally, thumping into others as they scurried out of my way. Steam rose from the pot of the chou doufu vendor stirring her spicy broth, and my eyes watered from the scent. I was behind the bodyguards within a minute. Their massive backs blocked me from my target. I tapped the middle one on his shoulder. He twisted, fists clenched.

“Move,” I said.

“What?”

I cocked my elbow and punched him hard in the nose, breaking it. The oaf roared, covering his face as blood spurted. I barreled past him and slammed into the you boy, who was gaping, bug-eyed. The other two bodyguards swiped at me with clumsy hands. I leaped out of the way, but not before one of them managed to grab my mask, pulling it off so it hung at my neck.

No matter. Grinning at him, I smashed the vial I held to the ground. Noxious smoke billowed around us. The bodyguards and boy dropped like sacks of rice within five seconds. Bet that you boy would regret taking off his helmet tomorrow morning. The petite girl screamed shrilly beside me as passersby shouted, but everyone steered clear of the fumes.

I lunged for the tall girl, pulling her tight to my chest, and plunged the syringe into her hand, the only exposed part of her body. The needle hissed as it dispensed the sleep-spell drug. She sank against me and I hefted her over my shoulder, dashing into the dark alley behind us, finally allowing myself to take a breath when I cleared the smoke. She wasn’t heavy, but all cumbersome limbs.

“Eh, you!” a man shouted, his running footsteps echoing behind me.

I cursed and spun around the corner into a black alley. My pursuer followed immediately. I stuck out my foot, and he tripped over it, thumping hard onto the uneven pavement.

I ran without looking back, gripping the girl tightly by her legs, the streets’ layout etched in my mind. The...

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Verlag
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Erscheinungsdatum
2019
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
1481489232
ISBN 13 
9781481489232
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
352
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Simon & Schuster Legal
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