The shootings in Pleasant Valley were fifty miles away, but at Central High a grief and crisis counselor is hired, security is increased, and privileges are being taken away.

" No one knows why. "

If you break the new rules the punishment is severe. And the rules keep changing every day.

" School feels like a prison. "

It's for their protection, yet fifteen-year-old Tom Bishop and his friends learn that things are far more sinister than they seem. Students and teachers begin disappearing.

" There's no way to stop it. "

Nationally best-selling and acclaimed author Francine Prose has written a haunting novel about what happens when protection goes too far and what it means to have freedom extinguished -- in the name of safety.