Truancy, Paperback

Some kids were rebellious....

In an alternate world, in a nameless totalitarian city, the autocratic Mayor rules the school system with an iron fist. Fighting against the Mayor and his repressive Educators is a group of former students called the Truancy, whose goal is to take down the system by any means possible--at any cost.

Fifteen-year-old Tack is just trying to survive. His days are filled with sadistic teachers, unrelenting schoolwork, and indifferent parents. Things start to look up when he meets Umasi, a mysterious boy who becomes Tack's mentor.

Then someone close to Tack gets killed in the crossfire between the Educators and the Truants, and he swears vengeance. To achieve his purpose, he abandons his old life and joins the Truancy, looking for an opportunity to confront Zyid, its enigmatic leader. But Tack soon finds himself torn between his desire for revenge and his growing sympathy for the Truants...

Isamu Fukui wrote Truancy during the summer of his fifteenth year. The author's purpose is not just to entertain, but to make a statement about the futility of the endless cycle of violence in the world, as well as the state of the educational system. And, as he put it, "I need to be in school myself if I want to write about it." He is now a student at New York University.