The Knife of Never Letting Go

• Genre: Fiction; young adult science fiction
• Originally Published: 2008
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 860L; grades 9-12
• Structure/Length: 6 parts; 42 chapters; approx. 512 pages; approx. 12 hours on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: On the New World planet, Todd lives in a town of men who believe aliens killed all the women. On the eve of his 13th birthday, when he will officially become a man, Todd meets Viola in the swamp outside of town, and everything he thought he knew begins to unravel.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Toxic masculinity; violence

Patrick Ness, Author

• Bio: Born in 1971 in Virginia; spent childhood in Hawaii and Washington, the son of an army lieutenant; graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in English literature; moved to England, where he lives now; taught creative writing at Oxford University; wrote The Knife of Letting Go as the first book in the Chaos Walking series; won the Carnegie Medal two years in a row, for Monsters of Men (2010) and A Monster Calls (2011)
• Other Works: The Crash of Hennington (2003); More Than This (2013); The Rest of Us Just Live Here (2015); Burn (2020)
• Awards: Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize (2008); Otherwise Award (2008)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit: