The Walled City

September 22, 2014
The walled city of Hak Nam is “a place so ruthless even the sunlight won’t enter,” a festering cesspool in which children and teenagers are forced to murder, steal, and become prostitutes to survive. Dai Shing, trying to escape the city for reasons of his own, is ticking off the 18 days until the New Year when he partners up with Jin Ling, who is posing as a street boy in an effort to find her sister, Mei Yee. Now Jin must rescue Mei from a brothel under the control of the nefarious Brotherhood of the Red Dragon, with Dai’s unwitting
assistance. Graudin (All That Glows) is gifted at employing simile and other literary devices to describe the gritty surroundings and Hak Nam’s criminal inhabitants, including one man with a voice “like a junkyard dog.” The result is three stories deftly entwined into a fast-paced, striking tale—partly inspired by the now-destroyed Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong—as Dai and Jin learn to trust one another with their lives. Ages 15–up. Agent: Tracey Adams, Adams Literary.

Heroin addicts, crime lords and murderers wreak havoc upon the residents of Hak Nam Walled City, a neglected, filthy place in this teen thriller told in alternating viewpoints. Inspired by Hong Kong's Kowloon Walled City, Graudin's prose uncovers a contemporary dystopia where despair is so rampant, "even the sunlight won't enter." Disguised as a boy, Jin Ling runs like the wind and searches Walled City for her beloved sister, Mei Yee. Mei Yee, taken to a brothel run by Brotherhood drug lord Longwai, longs for the sea and her sister, while her nights are spent servicing Ambassador Osamu. And Dai Shing, full of personal demons and running from the law, ticks off the days leading up to the New Year, the day his dubious freedom within lawless Walled City will end. He needs an "in" to the brothel in order to clear his name, but first, he'll need help-from the two sisters. As their paths cross, the three teens struggle with their biggest obstacle, as mountainous as the walls surrounding the city: trusting one another. With gritty, vehement details, Walled City looms large, like a fourth character, its alleyways as twisted as Longwai's mind. Violence runs deep throughout the book, but it's written with care and never feels gratuitous. In particular, one rape scene becomes Mei Yee's source of strength. It's key moments like these that offer humanity in this sea of inhumanity. Readers, rapt, will duck for cover until the very last page. (author's note) (Fiction. 14 & up) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Dai has 18 days to find a way out of Hak Nam Walled City. Once a fort the space is now a lawless outland occupied by gangs, vagrants, and prostitutes. Each day is a fight for survival for most residents of the Walled City. Dai is from the City Beyond. Consigned to the Walled City for his actions he spends his time planning his escape. To do this, he must infiltrate the Brotherhood, the most feared and powerful gang in the Walled City, and steal from its leader, Longwai. He'll need the help of Hak Nam's fastest runner, Jin Ling, and Mei Yee, one of the whores in Longwai's brothel. Jin Ling sees her involvement as a way to search the brothel for her missing sister, sold into prostitution by their father two years ago. Mei Yee finally sees a ray of hope with Dai's promise of freedom. But each has their own dark secrets, which could jeopardize not only their chance of success but their very lives. This dark and gritty thriller doesn't pull any punches, taking readers into a world of fear, danger, and deprivation. Dai, Jin Ling, and Mei Yee each tell their part of the story in nonconsecutive chapters, slowly plaiting a single tale from their multiple narratives. Vivid descriptions add color and infuse the story with realism. While there are mature situations dealing with drugs, violence, and rape, they are skillfully relayed without being graphic. This complex, well-written novel is full of tension, twists, and turns, and teens will not be able to put it down.-Heather Miller Cover, Homewood Public Library, AL

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 Graudin's sophomore effort takes its inspiration from Hong Kong's Kowloon Walled City, a former fort turned lawless shantytown demolished in the 1990s. In this violent, bleak tale, three characters narrate their struggles to survive. Dai traffics drugs to make good on a past mistake, and offers Jin, a girl on the lam disguised as a boy, a chance to search for her older sister, Mei Yee. Unbeknownst to Jin, her sister is on the other side of the brothel window from Dai. The three race against the ticking clockthe Walled City is on the verge of being demolishedto find the brothel's ledger and escape alive. Graudin uses multiple narrators to excellent effect, with cliff-hanger chapter endings that leave the reader little chance to catch his or her breath. She artfully balances tense action scenes with lyrical language, distinct voices for each narrator, and ruminations that probe the book's deeper themes of family, regret, and second chances. Though the story is solidly based in reality, it should nonetheless appeal to fans of dystopian fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2015
Hak Nam Walled City, the setting for this gripping and gritty thriller, is based on a real place, Hong Kong's infamous Kowloon Walled City; a densely populated, largely ungoverned urban shantytown rife with prostitution, gambling, and drugs, it was torn down late in the twentieth century. Graudin describes Hak Nam as "a recipe of humanity's darkest ingredients -- thieves, whores, murderers, addicts -- all mashed into six and a half acres. Hell on earth...A place so ruthless even the sunlight won't enter." The narrative rotates among three teen protagonists who desperately want to escape, but must work together -- and trust one another. Dai has a mysterious past, is working for the most ruthless crime lord in the Brotherhood of the Red Dragon, and counting down the days until the New Year and his chance to implement his daring plan. He teams up with Jin, a girl passing as a boy, who carries messages because of her fleet feet and who is searching for her sister, Mei Yee, who was sold into prostitution several years ago. They plan to break into the brothel -- Dai to find the ledger that will bring the down the Brotherhood, Jin to rescue her sister. Graudin deftly juggles the multiple perspectives to create a riveting, suspenseful tale of violence, danger, and survival. jonathan hunt

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)