Like many teenagers, Jem struggles. Since her drug addicted mother died of an overdose, she has lived in a series of foster homes in London. But Jem is different from other people as well. When she looks someone in the eye, numbers appear to her. Her mother's number was 10102001. When her mother died on Oct. 10, 2001, Jem realizes that the numbers she sees reflect the day that the person will die. Jem becomes friends with Spider, a boy from school. One day the two ditch school and visit a tourist attraction with a huge crowd. As Jem looks at each person, they all have the same number--today's date. She knows that they will all die that day. She convinces Spider to run from the center, and witnesses hear her say that something is going to happen to all of those people. When a terrorist bomb goes off and all of those people do die, the police begin a search for Jem and Spider.
The premise of a character knowing when others will die is an intriguing one; interestingly, the book presents some contemporary issues in a very realistic way. Jem's isolation and loneliness is touching.
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