
Breeder
by Honni van Rijswijk
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Pub Date Jul 13 2021 | Archive Date Sep 23 2021
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Description
Will Meadows is a seemingly average fifteen-year-old Westie, who lives and works in Zone F, the run-down outermost ring of the Corporation. In the future state of the Corp, a person’s value comes down to productivity: the right actions win Units, the wrong ones lose them. If Will is un-lucky and goes into Unit debt, there’s only one place to go: the Rator. But for Zone F Breeders, things are much worse—they’re born into debt and can only accrue Units through reproduction.
Every day in Zone F is a struggle, especially for Will who is fighting against time for access to an illegal medical drug, Crystal 8. Under the cover of night, Will travels to the Gray Zone, where life is less regulated and drugs—and people—are exchanged for gold. There, Will meets Rob, a corrupt member of the Corporation running a Breeder smuggling operation. Will also meets Alex, another teen whom he quickly recognizes as a Breeder in disguise.
Suddenly, Will has an illicit job and money, access to Crystal, and a real friend. As the pair grow closer, Alex shares her secret: she is part of the Response, an uprising to overthrow the Corporation. Caught up in the new friendship, Will and Alex become careless as the two covertly travel into Zone B for a day of adventure. Nothing goes as planned and Will’s greatest fear is realized. Will his true identity be revealed?
A Note From the Publisher
Advance Praise
“Proxy meets Handmaid’s Tale, Breeder will force readers to ask how far would they would go to decide their own fate.”
—Joelle Charbonneau, New York Times bestselling author of the Testing Trilogy
“By taking us inside a dark nightmare that offers its protagonists no easy answers, Honni Van Rijswijk holds a fearless and ferocious mirror to our own lives. Written with gleaming prose, these characters are fully formed, and their triumphs and betrayals are as harrowing as they are heartfelt. A brilliant debut novel filled with heart-in-your-throat tension as it races toward a stunning finale.”
—Poppy Gee, author of Bay of Fires and Vanishing Falls
“Van Rijswijk’s beautiful writing paints a vivid picture of a dystopian future…Poignant and eerily timely, Breeder is a fast-paced sci-fi that reminds us a value can’t be placed on our humanity.”
—Lani Forbes, award-winning author of the Age of the Seventh Sun series
“A thrilling ride through a not-too-distant future…If there is hope for us, it derives from the queer and trans strategies of self-making and unmaking that van Rijswijk’s characters devise…It’s thrilling, sexy, and gorgeously paced.”
—Grace Lavery, author of Please Miss
Marketing Plan
National features and reviews
Print and digital advertising campaign
Creative YA outreach and programming
Social media campaign
Featured title/author at library, bookseller, and consumer trade shows and conferences
Author website: HonniVanRijswijk.com
Author Twitter: @Honni_van_Rijs
Available Editions
EDITION | Hardcover |
ISBN | 9781094099804 |
PRICE | $19.99 (USD) |
Featured Reviews

A mixture of "The Giver" and "Handmaids Tale", "Breeder" by Honni van Rijswijk was a thrilling adventure that denotes gender and questions society's value on human life. In order to remain in the bubble of the society built to protect the human race from the dangers of the outside, men are expected to contribute labor and are evaluated based on what they contribute. The various tiers are highly segregated, and women are seen as simply a body to produce more laborers. The protagonist, Will, has to twist his way around the rules of his world in order to get the essential things that he needs to survive, as he holds a secret within him that he cannot dare confess. When Will finds a rebel "breeder" girl in the Grey Zone between tiers, he is determined to find out how to save her from getting caught. However, things don't work out the way one might expect it, and Will ends up in a place that he had been avoiding for all of his life. Thanks to a rebellion movement, however, Will plans to get out of his situation with the help of the movement, but also questions if it is worth losing a special offer that would grant potential happiness.
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