The City is divided. The bridges gated. In Southside, the hostiles live in squalor and desperation, waiting for a chance to overrun the residents of Cityside.
Nik is still in high school but is destined for a great career with the Internal Security and Intelligence Services, the brains behind the war. But when ISIS comes recruiting, everyone is shocked when he isn't chosen. There must be an explanation, but no one will talk about it. Then the school is bombed and the hostiles take the bridges. Buildings are burning, kids are dead, and the hostiles have kidnapped Sol. Now ISIS is hunting for Nik.
But Nik is on the run, with Sol's sister Fyffe and ISIS hot on their trail. They cross the bridge in search of Sol, and Nik finds answers to questions he had never dared to ask.
The Bridge is a gritty adventure set in a future world where fear of outsiders pervades everything. A heart-stopping novel about friendship, identity, and courage from an exciting new voice in young-adult fiction.
The Bridge
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more. |
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
“The Bridge shows how hard it can be to tell right from wrong, especially in the face of war. This page-turner and first novel is well placed for a sequel.'
—Weekend Australian
“War propels a boy from the privileged side of town across the bridge to the enemy, where he learns the real causes of the war and about his own history…. A suspenseful and entertaining debut.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“This grim first novel, set on a not-so-distant future Earth … packs a significant emotional wallop…. Higgins works hard to expose the religious and racial bigotry lurking behind so many military conflicts, and she is adept at showing that, frequently, neither side is without blame.”
– Publishers Weekly
“…the gritty, painfully tense passages describing the ways in which war affects children – teens in particular – are compelling and deftly written.”
—The Horn Book
“…truly an engrossing and compelling story…. Higgins’ depiction of a world gone mad on war and drunk on power and fear is on par with the best that dystopian literature has to offer…. The Bridge surpasses its contemporaries as it delves into areas rarely explored so convincingly by others in the genre … avid enthusiasts of dystopian literature … should not pass on The Bridge….”
—Highly Recommended, CM Magazine
“. . . Readers will easily see themselves in Nik, a young man unsure of his place and uncertain of who is in the right. The popularity of dystopias will ensure that this story has appeal, and it will also make readers think.”
– School Library Journal
—Weekend Australian
“War propels a boy from the privileged side of town across the bridge to the enemy, where he learns the real causes of the war and about his own history…. A suspenseful and entertaining debut.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“This grim first novel, set on a not-so-distant future Earth … packs a significant emotional wallop…. Higgins works hard to expose the religious and racial bigotry lurking behind so many military conflicts, and she is adept at showing that, frequently, neither side is without blame.”
– Publishers Weekly
“…the gritty, painfully tense passages describing the ways in which war affects children – teens in particular – are compelling and deftly written.”
—The Horn Book
“…truly an engrossing and compelling story…. Higgins’ depiction of a world gone mad on war and drunk on power and fear is on par with the best that dystopian literature has to offer…. The Bridge surpasses its contemporaries as it delves into areas rarely explored so convincingly by others in the genre … avid enthusiasts of dystopian literature … should not pass on The Bridge….”
—Highly Recommended, CM Magazine
“. . . Readers will easily see themselves in Nik, a young man unsure of his place and uncertain of who is in the right. The popularity of dystopias will ensure that this story has appeal, and it will also make readers think.”
– School Library Journal
About the Author
Jane Higgins was born in New Zealand. She has degrees in mathematics and anthropology and has worked on many human rights campaigns. She is a senior research fellow at Lincoln University and her specialty is youth studies. Jane lives in Christchurch. The Bridge is her first novel.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Reason for Reading: I love post-apocalyptic novels and this sounded good and also like it would be a stand-alone as I'm tired of trilogies.
I really enjoyed this book. I'll start by saying it's not the greatest ever of this genre but something unique in what is coming out for YA these days. This is not dystopian but pure post apocalyptic. This world is far into the future after it's collapse and we don't really know what happened other than war of some sort. The author is from New Zealand and we get the feeling that this is an island country, possibly NZ itself or Australia or even an alternate or unknown world. Our Earthly history is not aligned with the current situation. So here we are then. Two sides fighting against each other. The main characters are young teens trained to be fighters by their side, on their side of the river, but something goes wrong and when Nik and Fyf find themselves on the enemy's side things are not as they have been lead to believe. The war is almost a character itself here and is more developed than any of the other characters aside from Nik. Nik is the hero and we watch the turmoil in his mind as he sees everything he's been taught wiped out and replaced with falsehoods that are now his realities. How he comes to terms with this as well as with his identity is part of the plot. Being an abandoned orphan to the son of a very important living man is not something one can adjust to overnight. Nik is a real character with a moral high road, who weighs his actions against their ethics and makes the right choices, not the easy ones. Many sides of war are shown from both sides, from one extreme to another, how easy it is for the radicals to make moves while the moderates can be stonewalled into silence just as easily.
If your goal is to have just enough medicine and food for all you will never have peace. People will always want more than "just enough". If your goal is to quash the other side down enough that they will accept their lot and just be happy with what you've given them and leave you alone, you will not have peace. People will always rise against oppression and want total freedom. An intriguing read! The ending is left as being rather open. A sequel could arise easily from this. However, the ending also suits to letting the reader imagine what would happen next and I hope the author leaves the story as is. Trilogies are becoming so blase in YA fiction these days.
I really enjoyed this book. I'll start by saying it's not the greatest ever of this genre but something unique in what is coming out for YA these days. This is not dystopian but pure post apocalyptic. This world is far into the future after it's collapse and we don't really know what happened other than war of some sort. The author is from New Zealand and we get the feeling that this is an island country, possibly NZ itself or Australia or even an alternate or unknown world. Our Earthly history is not aligned with the current situation. So here we are then. Two sides fighting against each other. The main characters are young teens trained to be fighters by their side, on their side of the river, but something goes wrong and when Nik and Fyf find themselves on the enemy's side things are not as they have been lead to believe. The war is almost a character itself here and is more developed than any of the other characters aside from Nik. Nik is the hero and we watch the turmoil in his mind as he sees everything he's been taught wiped out and replaced with falsehoods that are now his realities. How he comes to terms with this as well as with his identity is part of the plot. Being an abandoned orphan to the son of a very important living man is not something one can adjust to overnight. Nik is a real character with a moral high road, who weighs his actions against their ethics and makes the right choices, not the easy ones. Many sides of war are shown from both sides, from one extreme to another, how easy it is for the radicals to make moves while the moderates can be stonewalled into silence just as easily.
If your goal is to have just enough medicine and food for all you will never have peace. People will always want more than "just enough". If your goal is to quash the other side down enough that they will accept their lot and just be happy with what you've given them and leave you alone, you will not have peace. People will always rise against oppression and want total freedom. An intriguing read! The ending is left as being rather open. A sequel could arise easily from this. However, the ending also suits to letting the reader imagine what would happen next and I hope the author leaves the story as is. Trilogies are becoming so blase in YA fiction these days.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
I really enjoyed this book- once I started I continued until it was finished. Some aspects of it reminded me of 'Tomorrow when the war began', but I found this story had more layers. The hypocrisy, the lies, and the good intentions of both sides were well woven into the drama, and the lead character was believable and like-able. I think perhaps he suffers a little from being a male protagonistwith a female author, but I am looking hard to find even that amount of critcism. Definitely recommended for anyone who likes a good yarn (definitely not just teenagers) .
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I received this book from Librarything Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review.
The Bridge by Jane Higgins follows Nik, who is an outsider of sorts in his prestigious boarding school. The cream of the crop become part of a secret elite group called ISIS who are the prime defenders against infiltration of the other side. Nik, for some reason, doesn't get selected even though he's top in his class. After war breaks loose, Fyffe, a good school friend of his, and Nik cross the Bridge to find Sol, her brother who has been kidnapped.
OK this blurb sounds interesting, right? The problem is, although at times the writing is lyrical and pretty, I felt like it lacked a lot of content. We move from place to place, but I never felt grounded in this world. There was a definite lack of world building. I don't understand this war that is going on, and I have no idea how the society got to where it is. Nik is likeable, but I had no deep feelings for him or any other character in the book, as the conversations are stilted and tough. I had a tough time getting through the whole thing, because honestly, it drags. I guess one of the big points of the book is that both sides are pretty similar in a lot of ways, but the whole time I was just in disbelief that they didn't realize that Nik was from the other side with his poor use of the language. REALLY?
There's a twist at the end, but for me, I was pretty disappointing slogging through all of these pages to end up... nowhere.
The ending left it open for likely a trilogy, but this is a series I definitely won't be following. Pretty cover though.
The Bridge by Jane Higgins follows Nik, who is an outsider of sorts in his prestigious boarding school. The cream of the crop become part of a secret elite group called ISIS who are the prime defenders against infiltration of the other side. Nik, for some reason, doesn't get selected even though he's top in his class. After war breaks loose, Fyffe, a good school friend of his, and Nik cross the Bridge to find Sol, her brother who has been kidnapped.
OK this blurb sounds interesting, right? The problem is, although at times the writing is lyrical and pretty, I felt like it lacked a lot of content. We move from place to place, but I never felt grounded in this world. There was a definite lack of world building. I don't understand this war that is going on, and I have no idea how the society got to where it is. Nik is likeable, but I had no deep feelings for him or any other character in the book, as the conversations are stilted and tough. I had a tough time getting through the whole thing, because honestly, it drags. I guess one of the big points of the book is that both sides are pretty similar in a lot of ways, but the whole time I was just in disbelief that they didn't realize that Nik was from the other side with his poor use of the language. REALLY?
There's a twist at the end, but for me, I was pretty disappointing slogging through all of these pages to end up... nowhere.
The ending left it open for likely a trilogy, but this is a series I definitely won't be following. Pretty cover though.
