But will they be able to find a way to be together? When, years later, a kidnapping plot brings Sephy and Callum back into each other's lives, they find they still love each After Sephy goes away to boarding school, Callum finds himself facing so many pressures in his life that he also joins the Soon afterwards, Callum discovers his Dad, Ryan,Īnd his elder brother, Jude, are members of the Liberation Militia – a group using violent methods to fight for equal rights for Then, Callum's family life begins to fall apart – his sister, Lynette, dies. Noughts and Crosses usually live separately and attend separate schools, but when Callum becomes one of the first noughts to attend a mixed school (the school Sephy goes to) their relationship is seriously tested. In their teens, they begin a secret romance, but relationships between noughts and Crosses are discouraged. Sephy (a Cross) and Callum (a Nought) have known each other their whole lives. White people are called noughts and were once enslaved. The story is set in an imagined society where dark-skinned people, called Crosses, are the ruling class. This is a quotation from Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman – a novel which uses fiction to address issues of racism and Voted as one of the UK’s best-loved books, Malorie Blackman’s Noughts & Crosses is a seminal piece of YA fiction a true modern classic.'You're a nought and I'm a Cross and there's nowhere for us to be, nowhere for us to go where we'd be left in peace.' and which will have shocking repercussions for generations to come. Then – in spite of a world that is fiercely against them – these star-crossed lovers choose each other.īut this is love story that will lead both of them into terrible danger. Noughts and Crosses are fated to be bitter enemies – love is out of the question. They’ve been friends since they were children, and they both know that’s as far as it can ever go. But she’s lonely, and burns with injustice at the world she sees around her.Ĭallum is a nought: he’s considered to be less than nothing – a blanker, there to serve Crosses – but he dreams of a better life. Sephy is a Cross: she lives a life of privilege and power. ‘Stop it! You’re all behaving like animals! Worse than animals – like blankers!’ “Malorie Blackman is absolutely amazing … really spoke to me, especially as a woman of dual heritage.” ZAWE ASHTON ‘The most original book I’ve ever read’ BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH What Malorie Blackman has always done so brilliantly is put the minority front and centre, both in society and politics.’ CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS ‘Malorie’s Noughts & Crosses series is the first time I saw myself in a book.

‘The Noughts & Crosses series are still my favourite books of all time and showed me just how amazing story-telling could be’ STORMZY

Noughts and crosses series order