The Compound (The Compound Series #1)

by S. A. Bodeen Narrated by Christopher Lane

Overview

Eli and his family have lived in the Compound for six years.
The world they knew is gone.
Eli's father built the Compound to keep them safe. Now, they can't get out.
He won't let them.

Dad asked me if I wanted to see more of the Compound.

I didn't. We would have to wait fifteen years before it would be safe to go outside. Which left more than enough time to see the rest of the Compound.

Our new world.

A world I would soon hate.

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

A teen questions the world his father has created and finds some shocking answers. Fifteen-year-old Eli and his family live in the Compound, a state-of-the-art underground shelter designed by their billionaire father to withstand a nuclear attack and protect them for the "next fifteen years in luxurious comfort." After six years of isolation, Eli still thinks about his twin brother Eddy and his grandmother, who were "accidentally" left behind the fateful night his father herded everyone else into the Compound and locked the door. Eli wonders why his mother keeps producing children, why his father stays in his locked study and why certain supplies are running out. When Eli unexpectedly connects to the Internet, he discovers his father has sealed them away from the real world. As his awareness of reality grows, Eli matures from a callow kid into a caring person who knows it's up to him to save his family. Suspenseful and riveting, this debut novel raises serious issues about what it means to survive. (Fiction. 12+)

From the Publisher

“* A high-wire act of a first novel, a thriller that exerts an ever-tighter grip on readers. . . . The audience will feel the pressure closing in on them as they, like the characters, race through hairpin turns in the plot toward a breathless climax.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Debut novelist Bodeen effectively builds the claustrophobic suspense with each chapter as readers slowly discover the Compound is not the refuge it seems. Combining elements of Margaret Peterson Haddix's Running Out of Time (1995) and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005), published for adults, this post-apocalyptic thriller will also pique the interest of Nancy Werlin and L.J. Adlington fans.” —Booklist

“Suspenseful and riveting, this debut novel raises serious issues about what it means to survive.” —Kirkus Reviews

PAPERBACK COMMENTARY

2010 North Carolina Young Adult Book Award, Winner
2009 American Library Association Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adults
2010 Iowa Teen Award Master List, Long-listed
2010 Iowa Teen Award
Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award Maser List
2012 IL Abraham Lincoln High School Book Award Master List
American Library Association Quick Picks for Young Adults
2011 ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adults, Long-listed
2009 ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adults, Long-listed
2008 Parents' Choice Honor Books, Commended
Washington Evergreen YA Book Award Master List
2012 IL Abraham Lincoln High School Book Master, Long-listed
2011 North Carolina Young Adult Book Award, Winner
Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, Long-listed
Utah Beehive Book Award Master List, Long-listed
Washington Evergreen YA Book Award ML, Long-listed
2004 Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, Long-listed
2011 Indiana Young Hoosier Award Master List, Long-listed
Iowa Teen Award Master List
2008 Texas Lone Star Reading List, Long-listed
2010 Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award, Winner
2011 American Library Association Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adults
2011 American Library Association Quick Picks for Young Adults
2012 Nebraska Golden Sower Award Master List, Long-listed
ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adults, Long-listed

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169727326
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	05/01/2008
Series:	Compound Duology Series , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

Read an Excerpt

I knew what had happened that night. We had been prepared. Other kids got bedtime stories about fairies and dogs. We fell asleep with visions of Weapons of Mass Destruction dancing in our heads. . .

Dad gripped my shoulders and pulled me away from the silver door, twisting me around to follow the rest of my family. What was left of it. I clung to my father’s hand. He rushed ahead of me, his hand dropping mine.

I lifted my hand to my face. It reeked of fuel.

The corridor ended. We paraded through an archway strung with twinkling white lights, then entered an enormous circular room. The place reminded me of a yurt we’d built in school, but about 80 times bigger. The curved walls were made of log beams; the same type which criss-crossed over our heads in an intricate pattern. The roundness of the room was odd yet comforting . . . Dad flicked a switch.

A plasma television dropped down from the ceiling, blank monitor glowing. “I figured we’d be in here a lot.” The blue from the television tinted Dad’s face and blonde hair in a garish way. He startled me when he threw his arms out to the side. “Cozy, yes? What do you think?”

“It’s not what I expected.” Mom’s voice was shaky.

Dad rubbed his jaw. “What did you expect?”

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