[EXCELLENT]

Marie Lu, a former art director at a video game company, was born in 1984. Legend, her first book, has been acquired by CBS films and is the first in a planned trilogy.

THE STORY: In 2130, Los Angeles, much of it now a plague-ridden lake patrolled by soldiers, is the Republic of America, perpetually at war with its neighbors. Fifteen-year-old June, a child prodigy born into a wealthy family in the Republic, is being groomed for the Republic's elite military. By contrast, 15-year-old Day, who lives in the Republic's slums, is the region's most wanted rebel and criminal. When June's brother is murdered, Day becomes the prime suspect--and their paths cross. As Day tries to save his family from the Republic and June vows to avenge her brother's death, the unlikely pair, with their conflicting authoritarian and humanitarian missions, start to uncover the Republic's...