Truancy

Marlowe Brandt

Tack lives in a world where school is meant to control and stifle students, and he grows increasingly wary of the oppressive educational system. He shares his annoyance with only two people—his little sister, Suzie, and a mysterious boy named Umasi who doesn't go to school. Umasi tells Tack about a group of teens called the Truancy, whose members have decided to rise up against the Educators in an attempt to vanquish the school system. At first, Tack has no interest in joining a group committed to violence, but when the Truancy kills someone he loves as collateral damage, Tack joins the Truancy with the hope of finding and destroying its leader in an act of revenge. This novel expertly crafts a compelling commentary on contemporary education systems, and the adventurous teen will not be able to put it down. Reviewer: Marlowe Brandt

KLIATT

AGERANGE: Ages 12 to 18.

“Perfect control through education”: that’s the goal of a despotic Mayor who rules an unnamed City where students are punished for the least infraction. The “Zero Tolerance Policy” is taken to an extreme, enforced by armed Educators, and expelled students are executed. Naturally, repression breeds rebellion, and the Truancy, an underground armed revolt by teenagers, is trying to destroy the system. Fifteen-year-old Tack is just trying to make it through school, but when he meets Umasi, a mysterious boy who trains him in fighting skills, and then loses his sister in a violent attack by the Truancy, he runs off and joins the group, hoping to destroy it from within to avenge her. The Truancy is led by the charismatic Zyid, and Tack’s skills soon make him Zyid’s second-in-command. Gradually, however, Tack’s allegiance to the Truancy conflicts with his desire for vengeance for his sister’s death. Will he accept the Truancy’s cause as his own? Dedicated to “every student who has suffered in the name of education,” this astounding and action-packed novel by a 15-year-old New York City student is sure to appeal to adolescents everywhere with its theme of brave students vs. oppressive educators. It’s melodramatic, to say the least, but highly effective. With lots of violence, martial arts battles, and even a touch of romance, it’s sure to be a big hit, just the kind of subversive tale YAs recommend to each other. Reviewer: Paula Rohrlick
March 2008 (Vol. 42, No.2)

VOYA

AGERANGE: Ages 11 to 18.

Fifteen-year-old Tack struggles to survive in a dystopian City where the Mayor and his band of goons, the Educators, rule with absolute power. Tack, his sister, and most other young people are locked into the deadly educational system where they are bullied by some of the most vicious and sadistic teachers in teen literature. Some former students, calling themselves the Truancy, have actually managed to get out. Under a charismatic leader, Zyid, these urban guerillas have pledged to bring down the system by any means, at any cost. Tack shuns both the Truancy and the Educators, until he meets a mysterious boy named Umasi in an abandoned part of the City. Umasi, equally skilled at gnomic utterances and deadly martial arts, becomes Tack's mentor and trainer. When Tack's sister becomes collateral damage in a firefight between Educators and Truants, he joins the Truancy, seeking revenge. Increasingly he finds himself torn between a thirst for vengeance and a growing sympathy for the guerillas. Fukui wrote his novel in just one month during his fifteenth summer. It is a big, raw, sprawling action film of a book, combining martial arts, street fighting, midnight raids, rooftop flights, and a high body count. Grammar and style are not priorities here; the sometimes clumsy and cliché-driven text may cry out for a strong-minded editor, but the intended audience will not care. Action rules, and teen boys will swallow this book at a gulp, demanding more. Reviewer: Jamie S. Hansen
April 2008 (Vol. 31, No. 1)

School Library Journal

Gr 8-10- Tack, 15, lives in a dystopian society where a corrupt government oppresses its citizens, starting when they are students. A group of young resistance fighters called the Truancy violently strikes back against the system. Tack joins the movement after his sister is accidentally killed in a Truancy attack on a government official. His intention is to murder its leader in revenge, but he finds himself drawn into the group's philosophy and is torn between wanting to bring down the government or destroy the ferocious resistance. This hefty novel is not unlike an action movie or video game. It starts fast and barrels on with not one subtle moment. It is full of elaborate, graphic fights. The characters are amazingly skilled in a wide variety of unbelievable ways. Described as "kids" or "children," they are nonetheless portrayed as expert assassins, brilliant tacticians, even world-weary bartenders. Readers are beaten over the head with how evil the government is, how oppressed the students are, how unsympathetic adults are. According to the back cover, the author wrote the book "in one month the summer of his fifteenth year." He shows a lot of promise, but more experience, in life and in writing, might greatly improve his style. While Truancy may be popular with some readers who feel as though adults don't get them and school is oppressing them, it is a strictly additional purchase for robust SF collections.-Geri Diorio, The Ridgefield Library, CT

From the Publisher

“Truancy is ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ for science fiction. Isamu Fukui delivers a well-written and passionate story somewhere between George Orwell and Pink Floyd. His school system gone mad is described with both wit and anger—as if he’s been there himself.”—Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling co-author of Hunters of Dune

“As much insightful social commentary as action-packed coming of age story. All in all, an impressive debut.” —Eric Van Lustbader, New York Times bestselling author of The Testament and The Bourne Legacy