“Emery looked around the room, moving only her eyes while keeping her head still, as a Keeper led her into the grand hall. She had never been in the Elite dining hall. She’d heard accounts from some of the others. It was usually the Olders, in the last division, who were put at the table to be tested, and as far as she could calculate, she was not yet considered an Older. But perhaps she had lost count of her years, or been too young to keep track, the fall of the first snow her only way of calculating the beginning of a new year. She also knew that sometimes the cover kept the first snow out. 

Emery had definitely not spoken to the Keeper who was now leading her through the Elite dining hall. She’d been finishing her morning chores and was looking forward to joining Dixon and Sadie on the walk to the eating house. After four days of heavy rain, Emery was anxious to feel the warm sun as she walked across the compound. The weather didn’t often matter as the Keepers just closed the cover when it rained after letting enough rainfall in to fill the water cisterns. Sometimes it would be days before they peeled back the cover. Those days left Emery craving a glimpse of the sky above. As long as she could remember, that gaze toward the sky had filled her with a happiness like no other.” 

–Excerpted from Skyward, by Susan White. Published by Acorn Press. Acornpresscanada.com