“I had been told to be one thing my whole life, and I couldn’t see all the ways in which I was more than one thing, until I saw pieces of myself in others.”

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Synopsis

In a lush secluded valley live seven peoples, all divided into tribes that live separately but happily, all minding their own business and sticking to their own ways. That is, until the day that Medea of the Snake tribe has a fight with her sister, and runs off into the woods, outside of Snake territory and into neutral lands. When she encounters Nia and Tate, of the Monkey tribe, she doesn’t quite know what to think. Who are these strange people, who think, act, play, and believe differently from her? Yet a tentative friendship develops, and Medea comes to learn that she has as much in common with Nia and Tate as she does with her own family.

Nia, Tate, and Medea are not the only friends from different tribes meeting in secret. Callista of the Peacocks and Damian of the Dogs have been secret friends for years. When they encounter Medea and the Monkey twins by chance, an alliance forms, as these young people start to question why their tribes have always kept them separate.

Meanwhile, an outside force is threatening the valley. A group of strangers is camped in the mountains, waiting to make a move to steal the land and its resources for themselves. While the seven tribes squabble over what to do, our young heroes take matters into their own hands. They recruit two sisters from the peaceful Mouse tribe, an even-tempered logician from the Goat tribe, and a fierce warrior from the Tiger tribe in an attempt to unite all seven peoples against the threat. But can nine young people really stand up to their families, their elders, and a deep history of segregation?