Twisted facts and bent truths take center stage in this sequel to Verify, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins calls "a thought-provoking tale of intrigue, beautifully crafted." Meri Buckley has lost everything. She lost her mother to a fight much bigger than herself. Her father to grief, fear, and denial. And the truth--to an overbearing government that insists that censorship and secrecy is the only path to peace. But though Meri and her band of truth-seeking Stewards did lose the first battle in their quest to enlighten the public, they have not yet lost the war. Meri can start the revolution she seeks, if the powerful figures who profit from the status quo don't find her--and kill her first.

Twisted facts and bent truths take center stage in this sequel to Verify, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins calls "a thought-provoking tale of intrigue, beautifully crafted." Meri Buckley has lost everything. She lost her mother to a fight much bigger than herself. Her father to grief, fear, and denial. And the truth--to an overbearing government that insists that censorship and secrecy is the only path to peace. But though Meri and her band of truth-seeking Stewards did lose the first battle in their quest to enlighten the public, they have not yet lost the war. Meri can start the revolution she seeks, if the powerful figures who profit from the status quo don't find her--and kill her first.

In the series debut The Testing, sixteen-year-old Cia Vale was chosen by the United Commonwealth government as one of the best and brightest graduates of all the colonies . . . a promising leader in the effort to revitalize postwar civilization. In Independent Study, Cia is a freshman at the University in Tosu City with her hometown sweetheart, Tomas-and though the government has tried to erase her memory of the brutal horrors of The Testing, Cia remembers. Her attempts to expose the ugly truth behind the government's murderous programs put her-and her loved ones-in a world of danger. But the future of the Commonwealth depends on her.

Chicago teen Meri Beckley's pride of living in a land of peace, prosperity, and truth crumbles when questions following her mother's death reveal buried facts, especially that words can have great power.