Knife Edge (Noughts & Crosses Trilogy) [Import] [Paperback]

Malorie Blackman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 23, 2005 | Series: Noughts & Crosses Trilogy (Book 2)

This thought-provoking and often provocative look at racism is a sequel to the award-winning Noughts & Crosses.

For fourteen years, Sephy, a singer, struggles to raise her mixed-race child in an apartheid society, telling Callie Rose very little about her father, and trying to make her mark in the music business where she also has to deal with prejudice. But suddenly and dramatically, Callie discovers the truth about her parentage -- that her father, Callum, was hanged for terrorism! Can mother and daughter heal the rift that now opens between them? And can Callie ignore the pain of the past as she takes her own steps towards her future? This is a riveting and page-turning novel for ages twelve and up that will confirm Malorie Blackman’s status as one of today’s top authors for young readers.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—In this sequel to Naughts and Crosses (S & S, 2005), Persephone (Sephy) Hadley, now an 18-year-old single parent, is raising her biracial daughter in a sharply divided alternate England, where black Crosses suppress the white Naughts. She faces pressure from both her less-than-understanding Cross family and her disintegrating Naught family, and everyone in between. When her brother-in-law's violent behavior leads to murder, Sephy provides a false alibi to save Jude, but doing so irreparably damages other lives. Second in Blackman's trilogy, this work presents similar themes with the same lack of subtlety that dominated the first work; Blackman's approach to communicating racism is to change instances of black disenfranchisement to white. The most popular white rocker is actually black; white performers must use the back doors to enter venues; popular desserts have racist names. Such a heavy hand leaves readers alienated from the dark history of racism. Jude and Sephy dominate the narrative, though occasionally other voices are included. Stiff language and murky motivation hamper the thin characters from generating emotional suspense. Jacqueline Woodson's If You Come Softly(Putnam, 1998) and Trudy B. Krisher's Spite Fences (Random, 1994) address similar issues, but with rich characters and taut feeling. Strictly for libraries in which the first book is in high demand.—Chris Shoemaker, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

When readers left Sephy in Naughts and Crosses (2005), the black, privileged teen was pregnant by her minority white boyfriend, Callum, who had just been hanged for being part of the Liberation Militia. The book picks up with Sephy, a few months from delivering her daughter, about to be murdered by Jude, Callum's radical, bitter brother. Told in alternating voices—Sephy, her sister and mother, Jude, his mother—this is a disturbing second installment in the Black & White trilogy. As in the previous book, the writing is keenly incisive, though more so, in this case, when looking at interpersonal rather than race relations. But Blackman goes to some very dark places, especially in the shocking ending. Without the love of Sephy and Callum that leavened the first book (and even that is tarnished here), this is almost unrelentingly downbeat. Still, readers who have come this far with the Naughts and Crosses and their segregated society will want to see how the trilogy is resolved—and whether hope, somehow, some way, manages to emerge. Cooper, Ilene --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 449 pages
• Publisher: Corgi; New Edition edition (August 23, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552548928
• ISBN-13: 978-0552548922
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #290,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, September 1, 2010

By 

Susannah Wright "cooldude" (Fort Collins, CO, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Knife Edge (Hardcover)

This book was amazing. I think made me cry even more than the first one, which had the hanging scene. I still havent read the third one, but I ordered it and cant wait. Best book series ever.

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!, July 12, 2010

By 

Katie J Dobson (SEARCY, ARKANSAS, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Knife Edge (Hardcover)

My order came super quickly, was exactly what I needed and was in fabulous condition. Would definitely use this seller again! Two thumbs waaaay up :)

5.0 out of 5 stars an amazingly touching book, which appeals to all of the emotions, June 3, 2006

By 

Emily (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knife Edge (Noughts & Crosses Trilogy) (Paperback)

Noughts and crosses was deservidly my favourite book, and i was a little worried that this one would not live up to it. My concerns were needless as it is every bit as good as the first.

The Noughts and Crosses trilogy is a daring and wildly imaginative concept which has been brilliantly realised by a fantastically talented writer.

I thought that this book was excellently written and an exceptionally enjoyable read. Checkmate really captures the imagination from the first page. It is a rollercoaster of a book, taking the reader through a whirlwind of different emotions. The turmoil that Callie Rose endures as she grows up is particularly well portrayed.

This book is a fabulous end to an amazing trilogy. Malorie Blackman is one of the finest writers i have had the fortune to come across! I know that this is supposed to be the end of the trilogy but I really feel that there is more mileage in this series. Write some more Malorie!I only wish that this was not the last of the books, i am devastated at the thought of there not being anymore!