Kingdom of Without

“Wickedly clever, outrageously fun, and bursting with heart.” —Rebecca Mix, New York Times bestselling author of The Ones We Burn A wily young thief must use her wits to survive futuristic, alternate history Beijing in this Les Misérables–inspired young adult cyberpunk “fast-paced heist [that] balances lofty ideals of change with snappy dialogue and pulse-pounding action” (Publishers Weekly). When Zhong Ning’er takes the job, she expects a smash-and-grab burglary she’s doing to make rent and help out a friend. What she doesn’t expect: a sad-eyed army boy who dreams of insurrection, a former rebel leader trapped inside a secret lab, a group of aspiring revolutionaries who are first collaborators, then compatriots, and then, perhaps, friends. But this is Beijing, nearly a hundred and fifty years after General Yuan Shikai successfully declared himself emperor in 1915. His descendants rule the country from their seat in the imperial city, their gendarmerie—the Beiyang Army—run the streets,