Expiration Day

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What to expect

Expiration Day is an insightful coming-of-age novel set in the near future by debut author William Campbell Powell.

It is the year 2049, and humanity is on the brink of extinction.

Tania Deeley has always been told that she’s a rarity: a human child in a world where most children are sophisticated androids manufactured by Oxted Corporation. When a decline in global fertility ensued, it was the creation of these near-perfect human copies called teknoids that helped to prevent the utter collapse of society.

Though she has always been aware of the existence of teknoids, it is not until her first day at the Lady Maud High School for Girls that Tania realizes that her best friend, Siân, may be one. Returning home from the summer holiday, she is shocked by how much Siân has changed. Is it possible that these changes were engineered by Oxted? And if Siân could be a teknoid, how many others in Tania’s life are not real?

Driven by the need to understand what sets teknoids apart from their human counterparts, Tania begins to seek answers. But time is running out. For everyone knows that on their eighteenth “birthdays,” teknoids must be returned to Oxted—never to be heard from again.

Told in diary format, Expiration Day is the powerful and poignant story of a young girl coming of age and discovering what it means to be truly human.

Critics Review

u201cA remarkable and heart-filled look at what it means to be human. If youu2019re not in tears by the last chapter, youu2019ve a hard heart indeed.u201d

Cory Doctorow, New York Times bestselling author

u201cIn a marvelously touching performance, narrator Gabrielle de Cuir embodies the fragility, determination, and curiosity of a fourteen-year-old English schoolgirlu2026De Cuir makes every last word of this first-person story come alive with an adolescentu2019s hopes, doubts, and dreams. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.u201d

AudioFile

u201cAn in-depth exploration into a dystopian society and what it truly means to be human, with many universal teen themes as well: music, romance, body image, family issuesu2026Fans of sci-fi and dystopian fiction will appreciate this tale.u201d

School Library Journal

u201cThrough the diary of Tania Deeley, Powell has created a terrifyingly plausible futureu2026and detailed worldbuilding with an unpredictably optimistic conclusion.u201d

Kirkus Reviews

u201cThis dystopic future is a memorable oneu2026While sci-fi buffs might be the likeliest audience, an extra push to realistic fiction fans may have them contemplating the ways in which Tania comes of age and how little it differs from what they are themselves experiencing.u201d

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

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