When Tom's grandfather goes off the road, Tom is sure Gandy has gone mad. Tom knows that beyond the wall lies the Outside, a wild place filled with barbarians and unimaginable dangers. He also knows that Oldies are weak-minded. So Tom summons all his courage and goes after Gandy, who obviously doesn't know what he's doing. Or does he? Tom's experience in the strange, messy, emotional world Outside, where so many things prohibited to Insiders are taken for granted, quickly shakes all his certainties. Who is crazy, the Oldies who are sent to the Memory Theme Park, or the families who let them go? Is the Wall meant to keep the Outsiders out, as Tom has always been told--or the Insiders in? Master storyteller Nina Bawden, known for stories in which secrets from the past emerge in the present, has created a spellbinding adventure set in a future society with secrets that make it a chilling mirror of our own.

The futuristic plot of this book made it difficult to understand at first (I had to read the first chapter twice). At the same time I wanted to keep reading to know more about the society in 2036. By using the idea of two totally different societies which do not interact with each other, the author paints a picture of a cold, harsh future. Tom, an eleven year old boy brought up on the Inside which is a society where children are dominant, people over 65 are "disposed of", and a family consists of a mother and father and only one child, follows his grandfather to the Outside. The Outside consisted of hard working families with lots of brothers and sisters and a society that was mannerly and respected the elders. By using these two contrasting societies, the author seems to be focusing on some of the weaknesses of our society today such as stereotyping the older generation as useless, households in which the children dominate, and the government. I found this book comparable to "The Giver", but intended for a younger audience. The surprise ending made the book a very worthwhile read.