The Knife of Never Letting Go

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A special anniversary edition, with a striking new cover design, to celebrate 10 years of the Chaos Walking trilogy. Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in a constant, overwhelming Noise. There is no privacy. There are no secrets. Then Todd Hewitt unexpectedly stumbles on a spot of complete silence. Which is impossible. And now he's going to have to run... This new edition marks the 10th anniversary of the award-winning modern classic, soon to be a major motion picture starring Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley.

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

THE FIRST THING you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say. About anything. "Need a poo, Todd." "Shut up, Manchee." "Poo. Poo, Todd." "I said shut it." We're walking across the wild fields southeast of town, those ones that slope down to the river and head on toward the swamp. Ben's sent me to pick him some swamp apples and he's made me take Manchee with me, even tho we all know Cillian only bought him to stay on Mayor Prentiss'sgood side and so suddenly here's this brand-new dog as a present for my birthday last year when I never said I wanted any dog, that what I said I wanted was for Cillian to finally fix the fissionbike so I wouldn't have to walk every forsaken place in this stupid town, but oh, no, happy birthday, Todd, here's a brand-new puppy, Todd, and even tho you don't want him, even tho you never asked for him, guess who has to feed him and train him and wash him and take him for walks and listen to him jabber now he's got old enough for the talking germ to set his mouth moving? Guess who? "Poo," Manchee barks quietly to himself. "Poo, poo, poo." "Just have yer stupid poo and quit yapping about it." I take a switch of grass from beside the trail and I swat after him with it. I don't reach him, I don't mean to reach him, but he just laughs his little barking laugh and carries on down the trail. I follow after him, switching the switch against the grass on either side, squinting from the sun, tryingnot to think about nothing at all. We don't need apples from the swamp, truth be told. Ben can buy them at Mr. Phelps's store if he really wants them. Also true: going to the swamp to pick a few apples is not a job for a man cuz men are never allowed to be so idle. Now, I won't officially become a man for thirty more days. I've lived twelve years of thirteen long months each and another twelve months besides, all of which living means I'm still one month away from the big birthday. The plans are being planned, the preparayshuns prepared, it will be a party, I guess, tho I'm starting to get some strange pictures about it, all dark and too bright at the same time, but neverthelessI will become a man and picking apples in the swamp is not a job for a man or even an almost-man. But Ben knows he can ask me to go and he knows I'll say yes to going because the swamp is the only place anywhere near Prentisstown where you can have half a break from all the Noise that men spill outta theirselves, all their clamor and clatter that never lets up, even when they sleep, men and the thoughts they don't know they think even when everyone can hear. Men and their Noise. I don't know how they do it, how they stand each other. Men are Noisy creachers. "Squirrel!" Manchee shouts and off he goes, jumping off the trail, no matter how loud I yell after him, and off I have to go, too, across the (I look round to make sure I'm alone) goddam fields cuz Cillian'll have a fit if Manchee falls down some goddam snake hole and of course it'll be my own goddam fault even tho I never wanted the goddam dog in thegoddam first place. "Manchee! Get back here!" "Squirrel!" I have to kick my way thru the grass, getting grublets stuck to my shoes. One smashes as I kick it off, leaving a green smear across my sneakers, which I know from experience ain't coming out. "Manchee!" I rage. "Squirrel! Squirrel! Squirrel!" He's barking round the tree and the squirrel's skittering back and forth on the tree trunk, taunting him. Come on, Whirler dog, says its Noise. Comeon, come get, come on, come get. Whirler, Whirler, Whirler. "Squirrel, Todd! Squirrel!" Goddam, animals are stupid. I grab Manchee by the collar and hit him hard across his back leg. "Ow, Todd? Ow?" I hit him again. And again. "Ow? Todd?" "Come on," I say, my own Noise raging so loud I can barely hear myself think, which is something I'm about to regret, you watch. Whirler boy, Whirler boy, thinks the squirrel at me. Come get, Whirler boy. "You can eff off, too," I say, except I don't say "eff ", I say what "eff" stands for. And I really, really shoulda looked round again. Excerpted from The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

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.

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

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 Book 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.