Summary

The novel is narrated in first-person present by the narrator, Kester Jaynes. The first part is called “Spectrum Hall” and consists of seven chapters. After the sun cracked open and the Earth got too hot for habitation, everyone moved to a dreary island surrounded by the world’s most polluted sea. Kester had lived with his parents in the city until his mother had gotten sick and then he had been taken to Spectrum Hall Academy for Challenging Children. Doctor Fredericks, who also styled himself as the Governor, told him his father did not want him anymore, but Kester did not believe this. He had lost his ability to speak after his mother’s death, so he spends his days locked in his room with a warden guarding him and no one to try talking to but moths and other...