The Walled City

The Walled City

By Ryan Graudin

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Curriculum Subjects: Adventure: General, Social Studies: Europe/Asia/Africa, Teen Life: Gangs/Substance Abuse/Family/Relationships/Sexuality

Grade: 9-12

Educator Guide

There are three rules in the Walled City: Run fast. Trust no one. Always carry your knife. Right now, my life depends completely on the first. Run, run, run.

DAI, trying to escape a haunting past, traffics drugs for the most ruthless kingpin in the Walled City. But in order to find the key to his freedom, he needs help from someone with the power to be invisible….

JIN hides under the radar, afraid the wild street gangs will discover her biggest secret: Jin passes as a boy to stay safe. Still, every chance she gets, she searches for her lost sister….

MEI YEE has been trapped in a brothel for the past two years, dreaming of getting out while watching the girls who try fail one by one. She’s about to give up, when one day she sees an unexpected face at her window….

In this innovative and adrenaline-fueled novel, they all come together in a desperate attempt to escape a lawless labyrinth before the clock runs out.

PRAISE & ACCOLADES

“Readers, rapt, will duck for cover until the very last page.”— Kirkus Reviews 

“Graudin is gifted at employing simile and other literary devices to describe the gritty surroundings and Hak Nam’s criminal inhabitants…The result is three stories deftly entwined into a fast-paced, striking tale….” — Publishers Weekly

“This dark and gritty thriller doesn’t pull any punches, taking readers into a world of fear, danger, and deprivation.”— School Library Journal

The Walled City grabbed me by the throat from page one. From the very first chapter to the last, my heart loved and feared for these characters. Brilliantly and beautifully written — a true triumph.” — Beth Revis, bestselling author of the Across the Universe series

The Walled City is dark and grim and intensely compelling. It is a book you cannot easily forget, a book you will want to read again and again.”— Ellen Oh, author of Prophecy

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