Fifteen year old Luce Finch lives just outside of future America where the land is divided into precise territories. Every decade the Republic analyzes each resident and determines whether they have the potential to be of use for the country. This time Luce tested and only she stays back in one of the poorest of territories. Her family has been scattered around, living in different territories. With the help of a childhood friend and a rekindled need for information she finds that the person that tested her meant for her to be kept in what is known as the poverty territory for a reason.