I am Dauntless

Cover art courtesy of Veronica Roth and
Katherine Tegan books

Amity.  Abnegation.  Candor.  Dauntless.  Erudite.

Kindness.  Selflessness.  Truth.  Bravery.  Knowledge.

If you had to choose one core trait to manifest for the rest of your life, which one would you choose? 
The trait you choose will govern where you live, how you dress and how you act.  Once the choice is made, there is no changing your mind. Will you choose the way your were raised?  Or will you deny your family, and follow an inner pull for something new.

Today, you make the biggest decision of your life.  Today is the Choosing Ceremony. You are sixteen years old.

This is life in the Chicago of the future. Society has been segregated into five factions, and each faction is recognized by the one singular virtue expressed by everyone inside. And in this society, which was designed for the betterment of the human race, is a growing resistance to the values at the heart of the factions, and an animosity that highly resembles the racism that once pervaded our own real-life society.

When readers first meet Tris Prior, the female protagonist in Veronica Roth's debut novel, Divergent, she is a slight, quiet girl who doesn't know where she belongs. As the pages quickly turn, Tris's choices force her to confront her inner feelings (and inner demons), and become a girl vastly different from the one we meet on page 1. Facing violence, separation, love, bullying, and ultimately war, Tris faces a coming-of-age that would give most people nightmares.

The story of Divergent weaves morality and mortality in a way that makes us, as readers, THINK. What choice would I make? What would I do when faced with the consequences of that choice?

My answers to those questions assured me that I am no Tris Prior. Not even close.

Divergent is another book that is making the transition to the big screen. In fact, tickets go on sale next week (on my birthday), and the film hits theaters on March 21. I'll be at the earliest showing I can get tickets to, and will have my response up as soon as possible. From the trailers, I have high expectations.