Winter's End by Jean-Claude Mourlevat

Milena, Bartolomeo (Bart), Helen, and Milos live in a dystopian future where, after a bloody rebellion resulted in the creation of the centralized government of the Phalange, they were imprisoned as children in neighboring boarding schools. Due to this unfortunate state, the teens have never really been exposed to the opposite sex.

That is until Helen and Milena happen to run into Bart and Milos on the bridge into town. The teens exchange in formation, to facilitate unauthorized letter-writing, and then move on. Only fate has other plans for Bart and Milena.

All four teens manage to escape from their boarding schools and begin a whirlwind journey across mountains, running from pursuers, and making friends in unlikely places. Not everything is as well as it seems though. There is an uprising boiling just under the surface, and these teens will make all the difference in that movement. Who will remain standing when the floodgates open?

A truly evocative story, Winter's End is sure to garner fans from the Hunger Games crowd. The characters feel so familiar and the story is filled with fantastical contortions of the human race. I received this book from Candlewick Press and couldn't be more happy that they graced me with this gift. While I know I seem to have a lot of glowing reviews of books, this one easily stands out among the many that I have read as a sleeper hit. With its inventive characters and plausible plot, one could almost believe that this was a true story. Almost. Give it a shot and pick it up on November 10th!