Taken (Erin Bowman)

creative writing class my senior year of high school changed everything.
    Michelle Sinclair, for being a positive, radiant, inspirational force in my life. I adore you. Alanna and Tammy, for cheering me on and promising to buy a million copies. (I’m half-tempted to hold you to that.) Dave, for always brainstorming with me. And to the rest of my old coworkers who put up with my weird part-time schedule that allowed me to chase a dream, thank you. (Carin, I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I had such flexibility.) You guys all rock.
    Kara, Katie, Kristen, and Nikki, because friendship is priceless.
    Ava, Becca, and Dave (see above).
    My extended family, large and sprawling: It is a blessing to be surrounded by such wonderful people.
    An endless thank-you to my parents, John and Maureen Snyder, for being the very best teachers around. For filling my childhood with books and adventures and travels. For encouraging me to dream big. And for not having cable television. I may have hated it when I was younger, but it was because of the mere two-channel reception that I spent so much time with my nose deep in books. Years later, I am eternally grateful.
    My sister, Kelsy, for being my first reader, best friend, and number-one fan. This novel would still be a mere handful of chapters on my laptop had you not begged to know what happens next.
    My husband, Rob, for being patient. And supportive. And believing in me all the times I stopped believing in myself. You are my bird and I’ll fly with you anywhere.
    And above all, to you, dear reader: Thank you for picking up this novel. Thank you for loving stories and words and Once upon a time . Thank you for giving books a home. The world needs more people like you.

COPYRIGHT
    Cover art © 2013 by ALISDAIR MILLER
    Photo of boy and girl © 2013 by HOWARD HUANG
    Cover design by ERIN FITZSIMMONS
    HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
    TAKEN. Copyright © 2013 by Erin Bowman.
    All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
    www.epicreads.com
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    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
    Bowman, Erin.
    Taken / Erin Bowman. — 1st ed.
       p.    cm.
    Summary: “In the isolated town of Claysoot, every male is mysteriously ‘Heisted’ on his eighteenth birthday, and seventeen-year-old Gray Weathersby is determined to figure out why”— Provided by publisher.
    ISBN 978-0-06-211726-7 (hardback)
    EPub Edition February 2013 ISBN 9780062117281
    [1. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. 2. Brothers—Fiction. 3. Government, Resistance to—Fiction. 4. Fantasy—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.B68347Tak   2013
2012022150
[Fic]—dc23
CIP
AC
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    13 14 15 16 17 CG/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

    FIRST EDITION

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