"Divergent"

The young adult (YA) genre is all the rage. The Harry Potter series was a tour de force -- a term that is grossly overused, but I think applies in this case -- and spoke to readers young, old and everywhere in between.  Then there's Twilight, a series that divided women into two camps: Team Edward or Team Jacob.  And most recently, The Hunger Games, a hugely popular book turned movie.

I say that because YA books sometimes get a bad wrap, and I want everyone going into this month's pick appreciating the fact that good stories can and do come from the kids' section of the bookstore!

So {drum roll, please} Divergent , by first-time author Veronica Roth, is February's book club pick!

The society of Veronica Roth's futuristic Chicago has been divided into five factions, each representing a different virtue — Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). At the age of 16, each member must choose a faction, and our narrator, Beatrice, faces a nearly impossible decision from the start: stay with her family, or dare to be herself. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

NPR chose it as one of the Top YA Novels of 2011 -- take a look!  Want to read along with us? Just email radio@wkno.org for more information.