Read Excerpt From Pittacus Lore’s GENERATION ONE

Pittacus Lore’s newest YA novel, Generation One is set in the same world as I Am Number Four, but you don’t need to read the series to get this book. In Generation One, war has just ended and Earth is at peace. However, teens all across the world begin developing powers such as telekinesis, teleportation, and flight. They learn to wield their powers at an academy, but a rogue group is forming in the shadows without the best intentions.

Read an excerpt from the Generation One below:

Taylor Cook
Turner County, South Dakota

The closest thing to action Taylor Cook saw during the invasion was when a pickup truck filled with local boys rumbled by her family’s farm and asked her father if he wanted to go to war.

“We’re headed to Chicago, see if the army needs our help,” announced the driver, Dale, the manager of the local grocery store. “Kill some of these goddamn aliens.”

“Uh-huh,” Taylor’s dad, Brian, replied. “That right?”

Brian stood on their porch, his arms crossed skeptically. He and Taylor had run this farm together ever since Taylor’s mom had run off. She knew what her dad’s stance meant—it was the same as when one of the farmhands did something stupid. Her dad had an abiding patience for foolishness that Taylor didn’t exactly share.

From a few steps behind her father, Taylor assessed the contents of the pickup truck. There were three men stuffed in the cab and another four perched in the bed, all of them carrying rifles and dressed in hunting fatigues. There was something almost comical about this bunch going off to fight aliens with bright orange reflectors glued to their shoulders. This whole day—warships, invaders, superpowers—it felt like a crazy dream to Taylor. She was scared, sure, have to be insane not to be. But that didn’t stop her from smirking at her neighbors’ makeshift posse.

One of the boys in the back of the truck caught Taylor’s eye. “See something funny?” he asked. She recognized Silas, her father’s main farmhand. He was in his early twenties, dark hair slicked back by a gloss of gel, a cigarette dangling from his lips. Taylor tossed her blond hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms, unintentionally copying her dad’s posture.

“Have you seen the size of those spaceships?” she asked, meeting Silas’s gaze. “What’re your hunting rifles going to do against that? Jesus, they’ve got guys who can fly.”

“The flying guy’s on our side,” Silas responded.

“Whatever,” Taylor said. “I’m sure he’s waiting for you to come save him, Silas.”

“Better than sitting around doing nothing, anyway,” he muttered.

“Running off to get killed, that’s what you’re doing,” Taylor said. “You’ll probably fall out of the back of that truck before you even hit the state line.”

Some of the other boys in the back of the truck snickered. Silas seethed and fell silent.

“Folks on the news say we ought to stay in our homes,” Brian stated coolly, sparing Taylor a glance over his shoulder. “Go home to your families for Pete’s sake. It’s a ten-hour drive to Chicago and who-knows-what. Safer to wait this out.”

“It’s the end of the world,” Dale countered, his meaty arm hanging out the window. “We at least gotta go down swinging. Figured it wouldn’t be neighborly if we didn’t stop by and ask you to join us.”

“Well,” Brian replied with a sigh, “you asked. I’m staying right here, with my daughter. If you fellas insist on rushing off to do something dangerous, hell, you’ll be in my prayers. I hope to see you again.”

“Good knowing you, Brian,” Dale said, throwing the truck into drive.

“I won’t be in to work tomorrow, Mr. Cook,” Silas yelled out as the truck started to pull away.

“Wouldn’t expect you to be, son,” Brian replied.

Taylor and her dad stood in silence, watching the truck careen up their dirt driveway and back the way it had come. When it was out of sight, their land was peaceful again. A butterfly floated by. The hogs squealed rambunctiously in the barn. To Taylor, it didn’t look like the planet was in jeopardy.

Read the full except on Epic Reads!

Generation One