Crossfire: Malorie Blackman (Noughts and Crosses, 5)

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Ingeniously flips the race issue . . . it's a brilliant inversion, with myriad tiny details that constantly illuminate the grinding effect of blind prejudice Financial Times

The series is speculative fiction describing an alternative history. The series takes place in an alternative 21st-century Britain. The Noughts & Crosses series are still my favourite books of all time and showed me just how amazing story-telling could be' STORMZY Short story in the multi-author collection The Crew and Other Teen Fiction, Heinemann Library, ISBN 0-431-01875-8

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Libby - the daughter of Tobey, abducted along with troy. Tensions are high between them, with them both being strong willed and stubborn. The Deadly Dare Mysteries (contents: Deadly Dare, 1995, Computer Ghost, 1997, Lie Detectives , 1998; illustrated by Neil Chapman), Corgi Children's, 2005, ISBN 0-552-55353-0 Sephy then begins to experience strange symptoms, and takes a pregnancy test, revealing that she is pregnant with Callum's child. When her parents learn of this, they pressure her to have an abortion, which Sephy repeatedly refuses. Meanwhile, Callum is working as a mechanic as a cover, and hears Kamal on the radio being interrogated over whether his daughter is pregnant. Callum then meets up with Sephy in the Hadleys' rose garden, and she confirms the rumors. While they're meeting, they are discovered and Callum is arrested. Nobody believed Sephy when she maintains she was not raped, and Callum is sentenced to be hanged.

Meggie McGregor: Supporting character in all books. Callum's mother, who had been Sephy's nanny until Jasmine fired her. She convinces Sephy to move in with her and is very close to Callie Rose. However, a threat to call social services about Callie Rose estranges Sephy from her. Years have passed since the love between Sephy - a Cross - and Callum - a Nought - destroyed their world and changed their families and society forever. Society appears to be very different now. For the first time ever, a Nought Prime Minister - Tobey Durbridge - is in power. Race and class don't divide people anymore. But things are never really that easy. Because Tobey's just been framed for murder, and the only way to free himself is to turn to his oldest friend - Callie-Rose. Their families divisions run deep, and when two young people are kidnapped, their lives and everything they've fought for are put in the firing line. After her friend Tobey calls her a terrorist's daughter, Callie struggles with discovering the real career of her father: he was considered a terrorist. She becomes angry with her mother for hiding the truth and decides to follow in the path of her father, cutting off her friendship with Tobey despite his attempts to apologise. Troy - the son of Sephy and Nathan, still a teenager when he is abducted. We see how he’s just as strong as his mother and sister, and a great character Eva Foxton: An old nurse who becomes a mother figure for Dan, eventually succeeding him as the leader of his gang, the Outfit.Tobey Durbridge, Shadow Home Secretary for the opposition Democratic Alliance party and Prime Ministerial candidate, has spoken out against confirmed residential status, the government ruling that requires all those of Fenno-Skandian heritage who were not born in Britain to apply for confirmed residential status.” Attempting to provoke Jude, Sephy tells him that Kamal gave Callum the choice to save his life or to keep their baby and Callum chose their baby. Jude loses his temper and tries to shoot her, but his gun jams. Minerva, in an attempt to save Sephy and herself, runs towards the front door and screams for help. She fails and Jude shoots her in the shoulder. However, just when you get immersed in the novel, it ends on a massive cliff-hanger, and there are no resolutions to the stories started in the book, which is frustrating. I was so caught up in the story that I hadn't expected it to end at that point, and eagerly await the follow-up. Written for World Book Day 2003, An Eye For an Eye has been republished in a new edition of Noughts & Crosses. It describes one evening while Sephy is pregnant with Callie Rose when her sister, Minerva, visits her. Minerva offers to patch up things with Jasmine, but Sephy tries to get Minerva to leave, as Sephy was worried about being followed by Jude. As Minerva visits, Jude arrives in the apartment after days of following Sephy, intent on killing Sephy.

Humming Through My Fingers" in the multi-author collection Shining On: A Collection of Stories in Aid of the Teen Cancer Trust, Picadilly Press, 2006, ISBN 1-85340-893-X Aware of McAuley's intent to kill him, Tobey sets up a plan with Owen Dowd, Rebecca's brother. He invests in one of McAuley's minions to frame him as a traitor. The plan works, but Owen and Tobey are almost killed in the process. However, one of Tobey's friends, Dan, comes in and kills McAuley's minions, saving both their lives. Dan then goes on the run for the murders. Realising that Sephy wishes to die, he decides that killing her would help her, and opts to leave Sephy to suffering. He gives Sephy permission to call an ambulance for Minerva and tells her that since he knows how much she cares for her family, he will use her baby to hurt her. Sephy threatens to kill him if he hurts her child, but resorts to pleading with Jude to leave the two of them alone. He leaves just as the ambulance arrives, with a new plan in mind; Sephy makes Minerva lie about her injuries.The Monster Crisp-Guzzler (illustrated by Sami Sweeten), Corgi Children's, 2002, ISBN 0-552-54783-2

Sephy struggles with seeing Meggie losing the last remaining member of her family and decides to give a false alibi to Jude for Cara's death for Meggie's sake. He escapes the death penalty and only serves a few month in prison for LM membership; afterwards, he accuses Andrew of Cara's murder in addition to being a government informer; Andrew is soon shot dead by the LM. Despite Sephy saving his life, still holds a grudge against her and plots revenge.Overall, if you loved the Noughts and Crosses series, like me, and you really want to read it, go for it; however, if you've just stubbled across it, I recommend all the books that came before it in the series far more than this. Crossfire could definitely go amiss if you're not as in love with the series as me and other fans. And another groundbreaking children's novelist R.J Palacio, author of Wonder, shares her own childhood favourite in The Book I'd Never Lend. Sephy's life begins to fall apart, as the Crosses hate her for helping Jude escape the noose, and the Noughts because she didn't come to his aid sooner. While singing "Rainbow Child" to Callie Rose, she hugs her too tightly, causing the child to stop breathing. The book ends with Meggie repeatedly screaming at Sephy, "What have you done?" Kamal Hadley: the main antagonist of Noughts & Crosses and a secondary antagonist in Knife Edge. A powerful, avaricious Cross Home Office Minister who will do anything to gain more power and influence. He is the father of Sephy and Minerva and the grandfather of Callie Rose, but disowns Sephy and Callie Rose. He divorces Jasmine after an unhappy marriage and remarries. A letter sent by Jasmine sent to the media ends his stint in power. This tense tale is about love, friendship, sex, power and corruption . . . Rich in moral and social issues Sunday Times Ireland