The Line [Hardcover]

Teri Hall (Author)

Book Description

Series: Line | Publication Date: March 4, 2010

An invisible, uncrossable physical barrier encloses the Unified States. The Line is the part of the border that lopped off part of the country, dooming the inhabitants to an unknown fate when the enemy used a banned weapon. It’s said that bizarre creatures and superhumans live on the other side, in Away. Nobody except tough old Ms. Moore would ever live next to the Line.

Nobody but Rachel and her mother, who went to live there after Rachel’s dad died in the last war. It’s a safe, quiet life. Until Rachel finds a mysterious recorded message that can only have come from Away. The voice is asking for help.

Who sent the message? Why is her mother so protective? And to what lengths is Rachel willing to go in order to do what she thinks is right?

View our classroom guide for The Line by Teri Hall

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7–10—For as long as she can remember, Rachel has lived a quiet life on The Property. Following her father's disappearance and assumed death in a war, her mother has been working as a live-in domestic for Ms. Moore, an orchid grower. But now that she's older, Rachel is consumed with questions about the Line, an invisible border that runs near the greenhouse at the back of The Property, separating the Unified States from Away. It is only when she receives a mysterious message from beyond the border that she begins to learn about her country's true history and the parts her parents played during the War. Hall's first novel gets off to a slow start, and the somewhat convoluted plot and two-dimensional protagonists may lose readers at the beginning. The writing relies heavily on overly long descriptive passages rather than allowing character development and dialogue to move the plot forward. For more engaging dystopian novels, suggest Lois Lowry's The Giver (Houghton, 1993) and Michael Grant's Gone (HarperTeen, 2008).—Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK
(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

In this futuristic debut, Rachel lives with her widowed mother, who is a housekeeper on the Property, an estate that borders the Line, a protective barrier that runs along the U.S. border. After a hostile force, the Korusal, blasted the area with atomic bombs, the Line has been rigidly maintained to keep out the Others: people who were trapped in the bombs’ fallout. Rachel is intensely curious about what life is like in the Away, beyond the Line, and when she finds a message from an Other pleading for help, she jumps into action. Her efforts trigger a series of events that not only compromise everyone on the Property but also reveal dangerous secrets. Hall nicely embeds the history of this repressive future world in a tense narrative that will leave readers intrigued with the mysterious Away. Rachel is an appealing character, and her young voice and the straightforward language make this a good choice for introducing young readers to the science-fiction genre. The abrupt cliff-hanger ending will create demand for the next book in the series. Grades 5-8. --Lynn Rutan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Dial (March 4, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803734662
• ISBN-13: 978-0803734661
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #873,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Teri Hall likes to write books. She lives in Washington State in the U.S. Learn more about Teri Hall at www.terihall.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stirring and mysterious, March 4, 2010

By 

The Compulsive Reader (Big Rapids, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Line (Hardcover)

Far away from the overcrowded cities where the oppressive government tyrannizes its people and the only thing that ensures a decent life is money, Rachel and her mother live and work quietly on The Property, owned by the distant and aloof Ms. Moore. Bordering the Property is the Line, the most notorious section of the invisible boundary that borders the country. No one is allowed in or out. No one knows what is beyond the Line...until Rachel receives a mysterious recording, begging for help. Now everyone on the Property will have to decide to do what is right, or what is safe.

Teri Hall's debut novel is absolutely captivating; her smooth storytelling and completely convincing and authentic voice bring the story to life and make it all the more chilling and believable. Hall presents the history of the country in a detailed (but certainly not boring) manner that highlights political struggles, a domineering government, and the horrors and terrors that are bred with war, relating them to a society that is not unlike our own and subtly warns against the use of nuclear weapons.

Those messages aside, the novel is full of strong female characters as well; resourceful Vivian who had to raise Rachel on her own, the secretive Ms. Moore, who knows more about the Line than anyone would ever suspect, and Rachel, who is torn between standing up for what is right and following in her mother's footsteps of playing it safe and becoming invisible.

The Line is a complicated knot of twists and secrets, surprises and revelations that only becomes more and more complex as you delve deeper into the story. And once you believe you've untangled it all, it is then that the biggest mysteries of all are revealed. Hall's debut novel is stunning, and it will leave you hanging in anticipation of a sequel and pondering the outcomes for many hours after the final page is turned.

Cover Comments: This cover is unbelievably amazing--I love how creepy it feels! The greenhouse is perfect, as it is relevant to the story, and I just love the colors used. The font is very modern, which fits as the book is a futuristic read. This is one of the best, most outstanding covers I've seen in a long time!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking forward to the next book!, March 13, 2010

By 

Denise Kubiak (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Line (Hardcover)

As a teacher, I have to read quite a bit of YA fiction before finding something that can truly challenge students and get them thinking. "The Line" is that book. It'll be required reading in my classes for years to come. Hall manages to render a very believable and fascinating world. Yes, it's set in the future, and yes it's dystopian, and yes, there's a big, bad government. But Hall never lets her novel devolve into a "1984" knockoff or some cheesy sci fi romp. She always keeps human emotion at the forefront.

It begins with Rachel, a young woman living with her mother just on the verge of "Home," the only safe part of America left. Beyond Home, "Away" is said to be a brutal place, full of immoral savages capable of anything. Rachel soon finds a tape recorder with a message that challenges everything she once believed about Home, Away, and the Line. What transpires next is a series of revelations and plot twists that will keep readers entertained right up to the last page.

It's hard to believe this is Hall's first novel. She has a superb sense of pacing. It starts off at a relaxed pace, but as you read, you find small, seemingly trivial elements, grow and fester until you realize just how monumental they are. It's like a snowball rolling down a mountain, gaining momentum as it goes. The more you read, the more you're going to want to read. And let me say this now: the ending will give a very satisfying payoff.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not fussy., March 9, 2010

By 

Harper Lee (Pripyat) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Line (Hardcover)

Entertaining... fast paced and not incredible wordy or descriptive, which
I appreciated.... it's nice sometimes when an author just tells a story and allows the reader to creative the visual texture of the book.


If you've read other dystopic lit. it follows a relatively similar trajectory.
An estranged cousin to books like the giver or the hunger games.
Easy read... read it in the span of four hours. i recommend.