Flashfall

In this jaw-dropping young adult debut, a sixteen-year-old girl living in a radiation-laden world must fight for her freedom.

Orion does not intend to spend the rest of her life down Tunnel 9. It is her duty as a subpar to mine — as it has been for all subpars, ever since the radioactive flash curtain fell, nearly destroying all life. Orion, the most gifted of the miners, knows she can earn her ticket out and into the protected city of Alara with 400 grams of cirium — the only element that prevents radiation sickness.

But everything is not as it seems. When Orion learns a truth that challenges all she's ever known, she embarks on a quest for something far more precious than cirium: freedom. Along with Dram, her caving partner — and the boy she loves — Orion sets out on a mission of rebellion and survival.