Noughts & Crosses
1998
- fiction
- dystopia
- racism
- terrorism
- prejudices
- british and irish drama (dramatic works by one author)
- conduct of life
- interpersonal relations
- love
- race relations
The story
Callum is a **Nought** - an inferior white citizen in a society controlled by the black **Crosses**. Sephy is a **Cross** - and the daughter of one of the most powerful, ruthless men in the country. In their hostile, violent world, noughts and Crosses simply don't mix. But when Sephy and Callum's childhood friendship grows into passionate love, they're determined to find a way to be together. And then the bomb explodes...
What it’s like
Clipped, urgent prose that alternates between two teenage narrators, with plain, observant detail of school corridors, bus rides and sharply divided city streets. The world is built from everyday texture: uniforms, checkpoints, the quiet weight of unequal privilege, and the warmth of a family dinner table set against the cold of the streets outside. The vibe is charged, hopeful and heartbreaking, with an unease that never fully lifts. It suits a late-night read when you want to be pulled forward, or a long train journey. Chapters are brisk and end on hooks, while the emotional register swings between tender adolescent longing and sudden, cold fear. The central arc follows two young people who refuse to accept the lines drawn between them. Intensity is moderate to heavy: racist harassment, bullying and the aftermath of terrorist bombings, with deaths and injuries described directly but without lingering gore. Romance includes kissing and intimacy handled non-explicitly. Written for readers who want a page-turning story about love, prejudice and injustice, and who can handle painful, unflinching realism.
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