The Hearts We Sold

By Emily Lloyd-Jones

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Curriculum Subject: Action & Adventure; Science Fiction; Horror; Social Themes: Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance

Grades: 10 & up

Dee Moreno is out of options. Her home life sucks (to put it mildly), and she’s about to get booted from her boarding school–the only place she’s ever felt free–for lack of funds. But this is a world where demons exist, and the demons are there to make deals: one human body part in exchange for one wish come true.

When Dee finally summons the courage to make a deal with one of these devils, she finds it may be more than she bargained for. The demon she approaches quickly informs her that he doesn’t trade in the usual appendages, he’s only interested in her heart. He’ll put her body in a kind of stasis for two years, and she’ll become part of his crew of “heartless”–teen soldiers sent to the demons’ home world to fight their enemies. All of the heartless have their reasons for making this deal, but it begs the question: what are you willing to give up to achieve your heart’s desire?