About the Book
Callum is a nought - an inferior white citizen in a society ruled by the black Crosses.
Sephy is a Cross - and the daughter of one of the most ruthless, powerful 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 . . .
Intensely passionate and totally absorbing, Noughts & Crosses is Malorie Blackman’s original dystopian masterpiece.
‘The most original book I’ve ever read’ Benjamin Zephaniah
‘Unforgettable’ Guardian
What we think
"Noughts and Crosses tells the tale of a segregated world and two teenagers who defy at it, but to say anything more than that would be to spoil the incredible thrill of having the story unfold brilliantly before you. Malorie Blackman is a genius of imagination and storytelling”
Also by Malorie Blackman
Noughts and Crosses is the first of a series of 5 books (including a novella). The next book is Knife Edge.
Her other young adult novels include:
Boys Don't Cry,Trust Me, Random House, Pig Heart Boy and Hacker
Author biography
Malorie Blackman is acknowledged as one of today’s most imaginative and convincing writers for young readers. Noughts & Crosses has won several prizes, including the Red House Children’s Book Award and the Fantastic Fiction Award, has been adapted for the stage by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and is soon to be a graphic novel. Malorie has also been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
In 2005 Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her contribution to the world of children’s books, and in 2008 she received an OBE for her services to children’s literature. She has been described by The Times as ‘a bit of a national treasure’.
