Race the Night - Hardcover

"Without you, there'd be no hope for the world. Because you are the whole world."

That's what Teacher says, and twelve-year-old Eider knows she's right. Theworld ended long ago, and the desert ranch is the only thing left.Still, Eider's thoughts keep wandering Beyond the fence. Beyond thepleated earth and scraggly brush and tedious daily lessons. Eider can'thelp wishing for something more-like the stories in the fairytale book she hides in the storage room. Like the secret papers she collects from the world Before. Like her little sister who never really existed.

When Teacher announces a new kind of lesson, Eider and the other kids areconfused. Teacher says she needs to test their specialness-the reasonthey were saved from the end of the world. But seeing in the dark?Reading minds? As the kids struggle to complete Teacher's challenges,they also start to ask questions. Questions about their life on thedesert ranch, about Before and Beyond, about everything Teacher has told them. But the thing about questions-they can be dangerous.

Thismoving novel-equal parts hope and heartbreak-traces one girl's journeyfor truth and meaning, from the smallest slip of paper to the deepestunderstanding of family. The world may have ended for the kids of thedesert ranch . . . but that's only the beginning.

Kirsten Hubbard is the author of middle grade novel Watch the Sky and two YA novels from Delacorte, Wanderlove and Like Mandarin. She also co-founded the popular blog YA Highway (www.yahighway.com) and she holds a BA in writing from UCSD. Kirsten lives in Los Angeles, California. Visit her online at www.kirstenhubbard.com or on Twitter @KirstenHubbard.