Noughts & Crosses (novel series)

Noughts & Crosses is a series of young adult novels by British writer Malorie Blackman. It includes six novels and three novellas. The books are speculative fiction set in an alternate history. This version of the 21st-century United Kingdom, called Albion, is a place where slavery has been abolished for a long time, but segregation still exists. This system, similar to the Jim Crow laws, keeps dark-skinned people, known as Crosses, in power over lighter-skinned people, called Noughts. An international group called the Pangaean Economic Community exists. It functions like a mix of the United Nations and the European Union, using directives and boycotts to push for change. In this world, Africa is a single country called Zafrika, and Scandinavia—renamed Fenno-Scandia—is the only nation run by Noughts.

The first book is told from two viewpoints: Callum and Sephy (short for Persephone). Their chapters alternate, with even-numbered chapters from Callum and odd-numbered ones from Sephy. The six books in the series are *Noughts and Crosses*, *Knife Edge*, *Checkmate*, *Double Cross*, *Crossfire*, and *Endgame*.

In *Noughts and Crosses*, Sephy Hadley is a Cross and the daughter of wealthy politician Kamal Hadley, who later becomes prime minister. Callum McGregor is a Nought. They were friends as children when Sephy’s mother, Jasmine, employed Callum’s mother, Meggie, as a nanny. After Jasmine fired Meggie, their friendship became secret, since interracial friendships are frowned upon. They meet again at Heathcroft, a high school for Crosses that now accepts top-performing Noughts. Sephy is happy to see Callum, but her classmates disapprove. She deepens her relationship with him, even sitting at a table with Noughts, which upsets Callum, though they later make up.

Meanwhile, Callum’s older brother Jude and his father Ryan join the Liberation Militia (LM), a violent group fighting Cross supremacy. They are accused of bombing the Dundale Shopping Centre. Callum is also accused after telling Sephy to leave the mall, but he is spared for lack of evidence. He leaves school, and Ryan faces execution. Jasmine secretly hires a prominent Cross lawyer to defend Ryan, who escapes hanging but gets a life sentence. Ryan is later killed by an electric fence during an alleged escape attempt.