The Catastrophe of Thomas Chen is a well-known event across the American Province of New China. For, though it took his life, it is the only time in the past two and a half centuries that someone has tried to escape to the other side of the looming Wall that splits America in two. Where knowledge is penalized and anonymity is paramount to survival, a yearly Literacy Intelligence Test administered by oppressive forces ensures compliance. When fifteen-year-old Sien Chen recognizes a picture of her absent father on this year's LIT test, a series of events unfolds, forcing Sien to flee her home. With the NC, the controlling regime, constantly tracking her, and Apostates, the outcasts of society, trying to kill her, Sien must obtain the help of an unlikely friend when she is left no choice but to follow in her renegade father's footsteps on a journey to find out what's on the other side.