"Exiled to live as a Low, sixteen-year-old Conrad refuses to become heir to his murderous uncle. But Meritocracy is a harsh and unforgiving rule on the floating island of Holmstead, and when his ailing mother is killed by monstrous gorgantauns, Conrad cuts a deal to save the only family he has left. To rescue his sister from his uncle's clutches, Conrad must enter the Selection of the Twelve Trades. Hunter, the deadliest of all the Trades, gains a...

In a postapocalyptic world where everyone has unusual abilities, Doom Thorax, whose only power is reading, gets left in charge and is responsible for the survival of all the other kids at camp.