Teri Hall's The Line

Hall, Teri. The Line.
Rachel lives far from the city, away from most of the problems but very near the Line, an electric fence that separates the Unified States from Away, a region that was bombed and has untold problems. While she is intrigued by this Line, she is also glad that she and her mother are employed by Ms. Moore on the Property, and therefore safe from the drudgery of the Employment Pool. She enjoys helping Ms. Moore grow orchids, but details about her mother's past and the cruelty of the government come to a head when she comes in contact with a boy from the other side of the Line who needs her help. Nothing is safe anymore, and Rachel, her mother, and Ms. Moore have to make a scary decision in order to protect everything that they know and love.

Don't want to give too much away, because there has GOT to be a sequel to this, and it was a fantastic futuristic dystopian novel. It took some getting used to all of the terms, history, and strange names but it worked. Rachel was an intriguing character, and I became very invested in what was happening to her. Gave this one to Picky Reader, and I can see it being popular with fans of Collins' The Hunger Games, Haddix's Among the Hidden and Malley's The Declaration.

I need to put together a Futuristic Dystopia list, but what I really want to read is a Futuristic Eutopia. Or at least, a picture of the future that is not quite so dire!