Proxy excerpt:
“He’d missed more nonrefundable school days for “volunteer work” – Xelon corporate code for forced labor – than anybody else in his class. He felt like he’d hauled every ton of cement in the Hayek Memorial Dam up the mountain by himself and single-handedly ripped all the copper wire from all of Old Denver. He figured his was the worst patron anyone had ever had in all of history.
But that was the system. Patrons owned the debt and proxies took their punishments. A simple contract, a free market. Debts had to be paid.” – page 15, PROXY
The inspiration for Proxy: I suppose it started in 4th or 5th grade when I read Sid Fleischman’s The Whipping Boy. The story of a bratty prince and the poor, put-upon boy who takes punishments in his place is the obvious inspiration for the concept at work in Proxy. There are actually references to The Whipping Boy threaded throughout the book. I’m curious if anyone will catch them all.
But The Whipping Boy was just the concept. A novel is complicated genii to summon and it usually grants wishes you didn't ask for, so the inspiration for the world of Proxy, the story, and the characters, came from more sources that I’m probably even aware of. A Tale of Two Cities played into some of the ideas of class and revolution and redemption. And I was thinking a lot about the shooting of Trayvon Martin as I revised the book--how, in our country, being young and black or simply being poor of any race, can be enough to get killed or thrown in jail or suffer all kinds of abuse at the hands of power. For example, I have a very different relationship with the police, than someone my exact age in East New York or parts of the South Bronx. So I was thinking a lot about privilege and power when I wrote the book, and how two boys in the same city could have such vastly different experiences of their shared society.
At the same time, I love futuristic action stories, so there's as much Blade Runner and Mad Max informing my imagination as there is Franz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth. I like my books filled with big ideas and big explosions. I hope Proxy satisfies on both counts.
About The Book:
The adventure novel of the year! Inspired by The Whipping Boy and Feed, this adrenaline-fueled thriller will appeal to fans of The Hunger Games for its razor-sharp insights into the nature of human survival and its clever writing.Knox was born into one of the City's wealthiest families. A Patron, he has everything a boy could possibly want—the latest tech, the coolest clothes, and a Proxy to take all his punishments. When Knox breaks a vase, Syd is beaten. When Knox plays a practical joke, Syd is forced to haul rocks. And when Knox crashes a car, killing one of his friends, Syd is branded and sentenced to death.
Syd is a Proxy. His life is not his own.
Then again, neither is Knox’s. Knox and Syd have more in common than either would guess. So when Knox and Syd realize that the only way to beat the system is to save each other, they flee. Yet Knox’s father is no ordinary Patron, and Syd is no ordinary Proxy. The ensuing cross-country chase will uncover a secret society of rebels, test both boys’ resolve, and shine a blinding light onto a world of those who owe and those who pay. Some debts, it turns out, cannot be repaid.
A fast-paced, thrill-ride of novel full of non-stop action, heart-hammering suspense and true friendship—just as moving as it is exhilarating. Fans of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series, James Dashner's Maze Runner, Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking series, and Marie Lu's Legend will be swept away by this story.
About Alex London: Alex London writes book for adults, children and teens. At one time a journalist who traveled the world reporting from conflict zones and refugee camps, he now is a full time novelist living in Brooklyn.
You can find Alex London on twitter and his website
Find the next stop on the Proxy blog tour on Cuddlebuggery tomorrow!
The Giveaway:
Thank you to Penguin Teen, I have an ARC of Alex London's PROXY to giveaway to one lucky tour follower. Please fill out the form below to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Stop by Penguin Teen's tumblr page to find out more about Alex HERE.
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