You may be looking for Unwanteds, the people purged for their creativity.
SPOILER WARNING! This article contains heavy discussion of plot details of the original Unwanteds books. You are at risk of major spoilers if you haven't read up to Island of Dragons. Be careful! |
The Unwanteds is the first book in The Unwanteds series written by Lisa McMann.
Summary
Publisher's Summary
Quill prevails when the strong survive.
Every year in Quill, thirteen-year-olds are sorted into categories: the strong, intelligent Wanteds go to university, and the artistic Unwanteds are sent to their graves.
On the day of the Purge, identical twins Alex and Aaron Stowe await their fate. While Aaron is hopeful of becoming a Wanted, Alex knows his chances are slim. He's been caught drawing with a stick in the dirt—and in the stark gray land of Quill, being creative is a death sentence.
But when Alex and the other Unwanteds face the Eliminators, they discover an eccentric magician named Mr. Today and his hidden world that exists to save the condemned children. Artimé is a colorful place of talking statues, uncommon creatures, and artistic magic, where creativity is considered a gift ... and a weapon.
Reader Summary
When Alex finds out he is Unwanted, he expects to burn in the Great Lake of Boiling Oil. He knows he is to be killed for his creativity. That is the way of the people of Quill. Each year, all the thirteen-year-olds are labeled as Wanted, Necessary, or Unwanted. Wanteds get more schooling and train to join the Quillitary. Necessaries keep the farms running. Unwanteds are set for elimination. It’s hard for Alex to leave behind his twin, Aaron, a Wanted, but he makes peace with his fate—until he discovers that instead of a “death farm,” what awaits him is a magical place called Artimé. There, Alex and his fellow Unwanteds are encouraged to cultivate their creative abilities and use them magically. Everything Alex has ever known changes before his eyes, and it’s a wondrous transformation. But it’s a rare, unique occurrence for twins to be divided between Wanted and Unwanted, and as Alex and Aaron’s bond stretches across their separation, a threat arises for the survival of Artimé that will pit brother against brother in an ultimate magical battle..
Introduced Characters
Main Characters
- Alex Stowe
- Aaron Stowe
- Lani Haluki
- Meghan Ranger
- Samheed Burkesh
- Marcus Today
- Claire Morning
- Justine
- Gunnar Haluki
- Simber
- Florence
- Will Blair
Minor Characters
- Sigfried Appleblossom
- Ms. Octavia
- The Girrinos
- Clive
- Sean Ranger
- Mrs. Stowe
- Mr. Stowe
- Septimus Strang
- Secretary
- General Blair
- Henry Haluki
- Jim
- Squirrelicorns
- Earl
- Evelyn
- Ostrich Statue
Deaths
- Will Blair is killed by General Blair just before the battle
- Samheed Burkesh's father is killed by Sigfried Appleblossom when confronting his son
- Justine is killed by Lani Haluki with "Evermore, nevermore"
Chapters
- The Purge
- Wanted
- The Death Farm
- Elimination
- Mr. Today
- Quill Prevails When the Strong Survive
- Artimé
- Home in the Stone Mansion
- Magic and Art
- School
- Samheed's First Secret
- One by One, the Warriors
- Parallel Lessons
- Losing Patience
- A Big Mistake
- Secrets and Secret Places
- Mr. Today's Office
- The Way It Is with Twins
- Aaron the Wanted
- Magical Warrior Training
- Lessons and Warnings
- Together in Action
- Gaining Ground
- The Mostly Secret Hallway
- Samheed's Second Secret
- Defense
- A Glimpse of Quill
- How
- Windows and Doors
- The Library
- Inevitable
- The Eliminators
- On a Dark Night
- Where There's a Will
- There's a Way
- Together Again
- The Visitor
- Broken Ties
- The Quillitary
- Visitors
- Exposed
- Aaron
- What Happens
- Battleground
- Severing Ties
- And So It Happened That
- The Way It Is with Twins, Redux
- What Remained
Cover
The cover shows Simber in front of the gates separating Quill and Artimé, with Alex and (presumably) Lani behind him launching Alex's paper origami dragons. The mansion can be seen in the background.
Inaccuracies
- On the cover, there are mountains all around the mansion, which is staring directly north through the gate. However, there are no mountains in Artimé in the books, and the mansion is situated at an angle, according to the canon map.
- The mansion is brown in the books, whereas the mansion on the cover looks lighter than that.
- The walls between Quill and Artimé are at an odd angle in this cover. How is that gate meant to close?