Skylar Rawlings knows that things are not right. The island she lives on is disconnected from everything, but she sees connections everywhere she looks. Her school says she has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but she can concentrate on all kinds of thingsif theyre interesting enough. Like her math teacher lying about this field trip to the capital, the average IQ on this island being too high to be chance, or that time slows, speeds up, and sometimes stops altogether. Skylar knows her education is misleading, most people are oblivious, and the world certainly cant work like this. She knows shes missing something. What she doesnt know is that knowing has a cost.