Deviant. Rebellious. Abnormal. The Elders say Gemm 16884 is all these things, and that he is a threat to the utopian society in which he lives. The Elders give him one chance to save himself: He must undergo the mysterious and painful “cure,” or he and his twin sister, Gemma, will be automatically recycled. Gemm chooses “the cure” and finds himself in the year 1348, at the onset of the Black Death. He is now Johannes, sixteen, living in Strasbourg--a town beset by anti-Semitism. Johannes struggles to hold on to his faith and family, his love for Margarite, his passion for music, and his belief in the goodness of human beings. But can the will of one boy change the world? Award-winning author Sonia Levitin weaves a chilling tale of a futuristic society colliding with the past--and delivers an unforgettable message about the recurring nature of history.