84 pages 2 hours read

Patrick Ness

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, #1)

Fiction | Novel | Published in 2014

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Introduction

The Knife of Never Letting Go

  • Genre: Fiction; young adult science fiction
  • Originally Published: 2008
  • Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 860L; grades 9-12
  • Structure/Length: 6 parts; 42 chapters; approx. 512 pages; approx. 12 hours on audio
  • Protagonist and Central Conflict: On the New World planet, Todd lives in a town of men who believe aliens killed all the women. On the eve of his 13th birthday, when he will officially become a man, Todd meets Viola in the swamp outside of town, and everything he thought he knew begins to unravel.
  • Potential Sensitivity Issues: Toxic masculinity; violence

Patrick Ness, Author

  • Bio: Born in 1971 in Virginia; spent childhood in Hawaii and Washington, the son of an army lieutenant; graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in English literature; moved to England, where he lives now; taught creative writing at Oxford University; wrote The Knife of Letting Go as the first book in the Chaos Walking series; won the Carnegie Medal two years in a row, for Monsters of Men (2010) and A Monster Calls (2011)
  • Other Works: The Crash of Hennington (2003); More Than This (2013); The Rest of Us Just Live Here (2015); Burn (2020)
  • Awards: Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize (2008); Otherwise Award (2008)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit: