Gated by Amy Christine Parker

Lyla knows the world will end and that many people will die. She knows because Pioneer has told her and all the other members of the Community. Her parents are so convinced that Pioneer's visions from the Brethren are true that they helped build a walled, isolated community so they could prepare for the inevitable end to modern civilization.

Pioneer came to Lyla's family after her sister went missing right after 9/11. He saw it as the beginning of the end. He gathered other families and built an underground bunker to house them all when the time came. The bunker's entrance is hidden in the Community so suspicions will not be raised among the outsiders. When the end comes, some outsiders may want in, too.

Everyone's life is carefully controlled by Pioneer. It is for their own protection; it is the price they pay for being chosen. Lyla's intended (chosen for her to marry someday) is her best friend Will. They, like the rest of the young people, are not allowed to have contact with the outside - no phones, no television, no magazines. They must work like all the adults to keep the Community running and prepared.

Lyla is not always sure of her abilities. Will she able to help protect their way of life if the outsiders come? It is that lingering doubt that confuses her even more when she meets Cody, an outsider. Her attraction is instant and much stronger than anything she has ever felt toward Will.

No matter how much Pioneer tries to control everything, he cannot stop Lyla from feeling emotions that teens feel. Lyla has desires, and sometimes she just wants and needs to be a regular teen. It is a struggle that reveals much about Pioneer and his followers. Even though life in the Community is all Lyla really knows, she starts to wonder if it is safer outside the walls than it is in.

For more info check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.