Simon Oliver

Simon is the son of a wealthy pharmaceutical mogul named Ty Oliver, and he begins the novel grieving the suicide of his rebellious older sister, Claire, who overdosed on oxycontin to protest her father’s activities. Simon is sent to a recovery center for youths and is quickly radicalized by his obsession with the climate crisis and his meeting of a young girl named Louise and a young boy named the Prophet.

After joining forces with these new friends (and several other radical children), Simon undergoes a rapid transformation from an anxious, friendless teenager into a committed voice of change. Though he is initially reluctant to commit himself to an entire rebellion—and even more reluctant to contribute to the more violent elements of that rebellion—he sheds his skin, abandoning the paper bag he uses for anxiety attacks, convincing himself to break his vegetarianism and eat...