you know those little blurbs on the inside flaps of a book jacket? the ones that must somehow condense a 300 page novel into a couple of paragraphs and still manage to, you know, sound good?

there might be a few minor tweaks down the road as we get closer to pub date, but this is pretty much the official jacket copy for DUALED.

i’m so, so incredibly happy with it. my editor at random house, the copy editing department–they couldn’t have done a more fantastic job.

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.

Elsie Chapman’s suspenseful debut weaves unexpected romance into a novel full of fast-paced action and thought-provoking philosophy. When the story ends, discussions will begin about this future society where every adult is a murderer and every child knows there is another out there who just might be better.

i’m going to be such a mess when i finally get to hold a copy. hitting bookstores february 2013. *cannot. wait*

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