Fearless

by Tim Lott

A Whitbread Award-winning novelist tells a chilling dystopian tale about a heroic girl prepared to risk everything in the pursuit of justice.

In the not-too-distant future, the world is safe from terrorists, the streets are clean, and girls labeled "juvies" or "mindcrips" have been hidden away behind the smartly painted exterior of the City Community Faith School. Their birth names are forgotten and replaced with a letter and number, but they give each other nicknames like Tattle or Stench or Little Fearless. As they slave away at chores, Little Fearless, who is actually the bravest girl in the school, tells the other girls stories, stories about the day their families will return for them. Little Fearless’s own hope and conviction spur her on a dangerous adventure — a bold and unthinkable plan that will either save the imprisoned girls or mean the end of Little Fearless herself, or both.

Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Contemporary

263 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Tim Lott is the author of seven novels and a memoir, The Scent of Dried Roses, which won the PEN/J.R. Ackerley Prize. White City Blue won the Whitbread First Novel Award and his young adult book Fearless was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Book Award. Tim lives with his family in north-west London.

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

My name is Tim Lott and I have a ton of Very Important Political Observations to make! I could research global diplomacy (or lack thereof), red-handed corporate lobbying, and the insidious duality of any and all political parties, whether left or right, and use that information to write a scathing non-fiction book, or...

Or I could write a shitty young adult novel.

I think I will write a shitty young adult novel! So much easier! Kids don't care about quality, right? They wouldn't know stilted, obvious metaphors, even if they were sledgehammered over and over and over with them, right? Young adults are brainless! They are corrupted and ruled by television and social networking and video games, right? I can treat them with contempt and make money by writing in the teen-hip genre of dystopian literature!

Awesome! Here we go!

Okay. I'm going to need a token character. A girl, maybe? Yes! That's it. A girl. How subversive! Girls are usually weak and ignorant, so I will make mine strong and fearless and I will... OH MY GOD!... I will name her Little Fearless. Done! Even though she's "fearless" (ah ha ha ha ha), I should totally make her bland and predictable. What teen would notice that, right? None? Good. Moving on.

Next, this girl is going to need friends. No, wait. Too conspicuous. She's going to need fellow classmates. No! Prisoners! It's the future and she's in a place that looks like it's a school, but it's really an institution! For... uh... juveniles and the mentally ill. Oh, no. I've set this book in the future. I'll call them juvies and mindcrips! Eat your heart out, Anthony Burgess!

This school... it's gotta have, like, social classes. I've got to be able to comment on social strata. The most brutal girls rise to the top and those who refuse to adapt to the bourgeoisie-mentality will be punished and be forced to work in menial, mindcrippling jobs. Good Christ, I'm a genius.

Oof. I almost forgot! This girl's classmates... they should be completely indistinguishable from each other. Good thing teenagers are stupid. I can make each character completely one-dimensional and stuff them each with interchangeable dialogue. That might be confusing, though. Why don't I just give them names that reveal their identity? Names like Beauty, Tattle, and Soapdish... because one is beautiful, one talks too much, and one likes to be clean. Writing a YA novel is so easy!

There's gotta be some central problem and Little Fearless must be FEARLESS and solve it. But how can she leave the Institution in order to succeed? Let's see. Well, the girls could produce a lot of trash that needs to be removed, so I guess she can escape in a garbage truck. She'll also need to get back in somehow. Maybe... maybe a laundry truck? Because... I'VE GOT IT!... the girls at the Institution do people's laundry. Little Fearless shouldn't be successful at first, though. So she'll have to leave again. Dammit, I've written myself into a corner, though. How will she get out a second and third time? I guess I'll have to use the garbage/laundry truck route again. And again.

I bet there's one thing no teenager would pick up on, and that's foreshadowing. You know what would be really funny? If my foreshadowing is so damned transparent that I have one of the characters be a visionary. Also, I should drop hints at some of the identities of the antagonists... hints that are so obvious that if a teen doesn't pick up on it, they'll feel stupid when I reveal my ruse in the end.

This is so much fun. I bet I could make it more fun by mashing Unnecessary Capital Letters into the story, weaving mood-jarring fantasy and fairy tale elements in the book, and maintaining a narrative that is completely devoid of tone.

Teens would never pick up on all that, would they?

They would?

Oh, balls. Publish it anyway.

[Brandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

If a book is released as an Advance Review Copy, the publisher is probably trying to generate some advance buzz for it. Get some good reviews going ahead of it and make people want to buy this book. I think that, if that's the case, the book has some obligation to be good.

Fearless is what happens when an adult author tries to write a kid's book, but doesn't really know how. All language gets dumbed down, every little detail gets spelled out, exposition grows like mold. It's like Lott hasn't even read a children's book recently, much less has any skill in the writing of one. The dialogue is horrible. The plot might be okay in another writer's hands, but I have my doubts even about that. The characters--all given nicknames based on their personality quirks--are otherwise indistinguishable in terms of voice. The adjective-laden prose is reminiscent of nothing as much as high-school creative writing assignments. His attempts at making the book all dystopian sci-fi involve throwing the word "vidscreen" around as a substitute for TV.

I was going to give this two stars, but as I type up my thoughts and my cataloging of its faults, I can't come up with any reason to rate it even that highly. This is A Bad Book, and I can't see any reason to pretend it's not.

[Benna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. Now, I know many will disagree with me but what made Fearless appeal to me was Little Fearless's strength of character-her courage and her spirit not only contributed to what other people saw her as but to who she was. The fact that here she was, in a prison, an institution, yet she told stories and disobeyed the rules-to receive the cruelest punishment without entirely selfish motives. Little Fearless was a lifeline of hope for all of the girls who had been torn from their families to be institutionalised and unlike so many more romantic, mystical and usually more appealing, tragic protagonists, not once in the story did Little Fearless fail the reader-NOT ONCE did she have a weak moment of selfish melancholy there were always others thought of as well as herself.

Others may think that the fantastical, sci-fi realm where the novel was set was not developed or described properly and that the story may have benifitted from such an addition but the world is being seen from the eyes and mind of Little Fearless and as her knowlegde of the world outside the institution was limited so must be the view of the reader. However, if you will, notice that the description of the institution is unfailingly clear and that the reader can have no vague wonderings about its appearance or significance-this is because it is seen from the view of someone who has spent very nearly all their life within the grounds of this building.

While I was reading (it took me about an hour to read Little Fearless)I could not help noticing that Tim Lott's writing style is somewhat similar to that of Niel Gaiman the author of Stardust. The events in the book happened very quickly-every one of which was extremely important and although not very long the novel contains...so much. It's a bit like Hermione's enchanted beaded bag in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Fearless also manages to contain any number of carefully integrated morals and messages that become clear as the story developes.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first discovered this book a few years ago from an online friend who fell in love with it. Taking her advice, I eventually got hold of Fearless from my school library, and ordered it online for myself sometime later. I read Fearless when I was about twelve or thirteen, and have since read it over a good few times.

The story follows a brave child nicknamed Little Fearless, who has been banished to an institute to become a proper Cityzen. The opening chapter is beautifully written, proving to be very interesting - I definitely wanted to continue reading. Lott writes in a strange but fascinating way that makes me want to turn the page.

As Little Fearless escapes the institute with the aid of an X girl, Stench, I found the story simply amazing. Although the dialogue of the characters (whom I have always thought to range from about 8-15) is probably a little too proper for their age and general lack of care (which you would expect to result in improper grammar and such), Lott writes in a memorizing way that really gets you inside Little Fearless' head.

Some people think the characters are very dull and typical, but I'm going to strongly disagree. I love all of the girls. In particular, I loved Little Fearless, the Whistler, Stargazer and Lady Luck. LF was a beautifully portrayed character, who was heroic and true right until the end. I admire her determination and compassion, traits which are often dismissed in fictional heroes these days; heroes these days, I find, are all very similar, as the author attempts to make them more realistic by giving them pointless and irrelevant flaws. Little Fearless certainly does not apply, and I applaud Lott for creating such a wonderfully brave character. I liked the Whistler, simply because she was so very strange and different, yet quirky at the same time - a real mash-up of a girl. Stargazer, who I at first found to be merely the opposite to LF, starts to develop a very unique personality. I liked the 'supernatural' aspect to Stargazer, too, but for whatever reason, I can see her perfectly in my mind. Lady Luck, who is certainly my favorite X girl, is very unique; I love her way of deciding things with her coin, though I would have loved to have known a little more about her. To round it all off, we have the Controller, who is so brilliantly written and so frustratingly complex at the same time.

If you're reading the other reviews for Fearless and are reconsidering reading it, reconsider again; this book is beautifully written, with a brilliance that proves the true horror behind society. The themes of the novel are so carefully created, and Lott has really done a fantastic job. Give it a go - it won't disappoint.

[Bex · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premise was interesting... Kind of 1984 or Brave New World- but what happened to the kids in these societies. So you would think- hey this should be cool.

Yeah- not so much.

Dialogue. HORRIBLE. Characters? Totally 2-dimensional. Maybe he wanted to keep them simple because this society was breaking them down so they didn't resist the rule. But if that was the case, why did Little Fearless just suck? She didn't say anything new. She had the same conversation over and over.

also the bit about hiding their names? It was so trite- like not that the girls hid the names from each other but that the author hid the names from the reader AFTER the main character learned their names. It was infuriating and stupid.

I skimmed through a lot of this because the dialogue was so boring. And really- kids talk like this? And a whole society of misfit girls talk like this? Whatever. The author was trying too hard.

[Corinne Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a world where rules and blind obedience have taken the place of good judgement and compassion, there lives a girl named Little Fearless. She spends all her days in The Institution, where she's taught to listen and obey. Problem is, as much as they try to teach it, she's not really learning it. Little Fearless knows that she, and all the other nameless girls at the Institution, deserve something more. Deserve families. And freedom. Of all the girls, Little Fearless has the guts to find a way.

Fearless is a dystopian parable, a rather one-dimensional story of courage and how one person's faith can change everything. I liked it, liked the IDEA of it. I appreciated the arc of Little Fearless's story but sometimes it fell into a sort of preachiness that disappointed me. Certainly there are echos of Nazi-ish hatred and enforced conformity as wells as other dystopian fare. I did like how clean it was-and I think my 11 year old daughter would be more receptive to the style than I was.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a lovely book. I was really surprised by the amount of angry and harsh reviews.

You have to realize that this book is quite literally in the viewpoint of a young child who has close to no memory other than the institution she has been enslaved to. Of course it’s going to come across “dumbed down” or “childish.”

Little Fearless was inspiring as that was the whole point. I felt her absolute anger when no one was listening, and i felt the hope fade from her in the end. This author threw me for a loop at the end with L.F and how her story ended. Absolutely beautiful. I appreciated it.

[MsThomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hesitate to call this book science fiction because so many people don't like that genre. It's set in the future, and tells the story of a girls' "school" that is actually a prison where girls who get in trouble are sent. The girls have been taken away from their families and locked into this facility, which the public believes is a school. Then one of the girls attempts to escape and get help from the outside...

It's recommended by JACQUELINE WILSON and is a smooth, easy read with an engaging plot. Try it out!

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book years ago and liked it but I didn't really understand what it was about. I would like to reread it so I can try and understand it better.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a children's dystopia book, Fearless is probably fine but there's nothing here to hold the interest of adults, or even young adults.

It's very basic and obvious in the story and the themes, the characters are one-dimensional and the dialogue is unrealistic.

I found it hard to work out what ages the girls in the school are, the author describes them as old enough to walk and talk but not women yet. They are made out to be very young in the way they act and think, maybe around 10 but they talk like they are 14 - 16. Which is odd because they talk like very well educated young adults and supposedly they have been working in a laundry for years with no education. It doesn't really fit.

In fact, my big issue with this book is just that it doesn't all fit together well. Little Fearless and the other girls talk about how they are kept in horrific conditions in what is basically a prison but we are never shown it being particularly bad. We don't see them working, they don't seem exhausted or struggling for food and they talk like they have a decent education.

The x girls are supposed to be violent bullies that keep them all in their place and there is a room where they are kept in isolation when they have broken the rules but, honestly, it all sounds exactly like a school to me.

Maybe children won't question it too much and won't mind that it's so unsubtle that it's basically a lesson in questioning what those in charge try to tell you. I'm not convinced though that it's scary enough for children to enjoy.

[Grace Oldfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books in middle school. I’ve read it so many times and even rereading it as an adult it’s held up. It’s full of adventure, heartbreak, and hope. It’s written for kids but it doesn’t shy away or make things easier. It’s so sad but hopeful at the same time and contains such a good message. Regardless of all that it gets a five star for nostalgia factor alone. But make no mistake this book holds up its fantastic! I would recommend this to anyone middle school age.

[zara · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars.

*mini rant*

this book was just so insanely bad but i just don't have the heart to give it a lower rating. timmy clearly was trying.

first thing i want to get off my chest is that this should NOT be a ya book. WHY is this aimed at young adults?? the blatantly obvious 'subliminal messages' that were meant to make the reader reflect on society fell flat because it was so painfully obvious and it felt as though the author was trying to spell everything out by shoving a dictionary down my throat. the writing was better suited to middle-grader (or really younger than that tbh).

if you want to read a book with BAD dialogue, (like really bad dialogue, PAINFULLY bad dialogue it makes you question if every social interaction you've ever had was real) one dimensional characters who were frustrating to read but were somehow less annoying than the mc, fearless, then this is the book for you!

also, yes, her name is fearless and that is about the only thing you found out in terms of her character. she's fearless and everyone else is a coward and we're supposed to root for her the whole time while she hides in dump trucks and talks to random people. (when i put it like that the book sounds half decent a;fsdsdjghs) i kept wishing she'd get caught the whole time and by the time she did i'd lost interest.

i'm honestly not sure how or why i own this book and i'm probably overthinking it too much but wow. might try and reread this and find the funny side since it's just too disappointing rn.

[Mills · Rating 1 out of 5]

Amongst the plethora of dystopian fiction, Fearless is bland, trite, unremarkable. Despite the fact that it tells the story of a children's prison, the reader never feels any connection to the children's fate, probably because Lott never bothers to write any scenes that actually show anything particularly bad happening to them. He doesn't show us their backbreaking work in the laundry; he never really describes their time in the punishment cells; even when they are in danger of being burned to death, he never gives any sense of emotion. The worst punishment he shows us is the girls' clothing being died grey. Ok, that's dehumanising, but in the great list of bad things done in the name of the War on Terror, it's pretty low down there.

We are never really given any sense of characters' personalities or who they are. The titular character, Little Fearless, Lott puts up on a pedestal - selfless*, compassionate, brave, full of hope, with a strong sense of fairness... associated with the angels. Most of her "friends" have but one personality trait apiece - Beauty is vain. Tattle is a gossip. Soapdish would sell her mother for a chance at regular showers and a bar of soap. A couple, however, are blessed with a whole two characteristics: Stench is both stupid and smelly and Stargazer is anxious and a psychic.

Fearless is not a book with strong world building, plot, or characterisation. Instead it is the type of book that jumps up and down, waving its arms and shouting about how meaningful it is. I've said this before and I'll say it again, but a book that is truly meaningful does not have to bash readers over the head with its meaningfulness. Fearless is clearly a vehicle for a message and Lott never bothers to flesh it out or add any realism. Stumbling blocks are easily removed and the writing includes only events that add to that message.

It is a mess of Captain Obvious metaphor and lazy writing, but I was still going to give Fearless two stars until I read the ending. And when I say the ending, I mean the revolting bloody obvious surprise, sickly sentimental, crammed with meaning, visit from the angels, whole community reuniting over the tragic body of a child, spiritualist bullshit that made up the last twenty or so pages. It's the kind of hammy shit I'd expect if Nicholas Sparks ever wrote a Dystopian.

*Can you really consider someone selfless if they give up on living when they hear no one is interested in the sacrifices they made?

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting one. This book is presented as "dystopian" but it lacks some of the key elements in the current trend of teen dystopian novels.
First of all, it's narrated in 3rd person, in a sort of modern fairytale style. It's quite formulaic (Little Fearless escapes, finds someone who does not believe her, then gets back).
Secondly, the main characters are children of unspecified age, but we are talking about school age so I imagined them to be somewhat between 10 and 16.
Thirdly, which I'm sure is a plus for some people, due to the younger age of the characters, there is no romance in the book at all.

The story is set in the future, in what is basically a correctional facility for young girls, which however is presented as a religious school to the outside world. The girls find themselves enslaved in a workhouse and obviously victim to bullying and different ranks between them, until our hero, called Little Fearless, hatches a plan for escaping and trying to tell someone on the outside world what is really going on in that building.

Other than the repetitions in the plot, the language is also sometimes reminiscent of fairytales. I agree with other reviewers that some of the supporting characters, namely Little Fearless's 3 Y-girl friends, were not too well defined and very interchangeable with each other. At the same time, description of what exactly was going on in the outside world was bland and, at times, even contradictory. There is talk about a war and bombings but whenever Little Fearless goes to the City it just seems an everyday evening, rather than a city at war. It was maybe even superfluous to try and update simple terms like "television" to "vidscreen" to give an idea that this is a future world. Creating a new language is typical in dystopian novels, but this seemed unnecessary. At the same time I found the novel very gripping and read it in half a day. I'm not totally convinced that it would belong in the "teen" section of a library, but it was definitely a good read and I especially appreciated the subtle anti-religious undertones.

[Jamie Steckler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is set in the future in what is basically a correctional facility for young girls called City Community Faith School. From the outside and on the media, it is presented as a well-ran religious school but what people don't know is that girls who are "mindcrips" or "juvies" are imprisoned here. The girls are deprived of their birth name and instead are addressed but numbers or nicknames. Inside these walls, the young girls are treated like slaves facing harsh punishments or backbreaking jobs. The main character, Little Fearless, decides to devise a plan to escape and tell the world what is really happening there. Will she become a hero or ruin the lives of the girls that are there?

I really enjoyed this book when I was years younger, however as I reread it as a college student, I definitely see why it has some bad reviews. I think the whole thing is a little over young adults heads in a way, except the point of the book is not to teach kids about corruptness, but to stand up for what is right and to always have hope. The overlying themes of the book are beautifully composed, as Tim Lott even dedicated this powerful book to his daughters. Justice is also a large theme in this book. Due to the fact that it takes place in the future, it makes you think if you would be brave and rebel or if you would be like the mass, and listen to what you're told to do.

Some further questions I have are about Little Fearless's father, (the Controller!). I did not get the idea of him being her dad. I did not understand it I guess I should say. Why was he doing it? How come he let his daughter stay there?

[Leah Gray-Scaife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fearless is set in an unknown, run down city which has been taken over by politically corrupt men using brutality to gain power. The population of this city is told that the City Community Faith School helps girls who have become destitute, unruly or abandoned. In reality, it is home to 1000 girls forced to work in slavery conditions. None of them speak their real names and are known by number and letter tags, but each girl is known by a nickname and our main character is Little Fearless. From the very first page, she stands up against her captors and in the hopes that one day she will be free.

In one way, I wasn't sure whether Fearless was written as a children's book or an adult book. The language used suggests it is for a younger audience but the themes and explorations can be thought provoking for an adult reader. Each girl has a rounded personality trait which matches her nickname - such as Tattle, Beauty and Bellyache but they also have hidden secrets and characteristics which break them apart. The book was easy to adjust to and never felt too confusing, which dystopian fiction can sometimes become. Even though some elements of the story may have felt predictable, I was still surprised by some plot points and end up becoming quite invested in Little Fearless. She is a strong representation of willpower, strength and standing up to those who oppress you. For the right reader, she could stand as a real hero. Overall, I found this book very charming and for some it could be a good introduction to dystopian fiction - a Handmaid's Tale for a teenage audience.

[Carol Yu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really do love this book, once i picked it up it already seem special. Every page there is a title and a quote. Not to mention but it keeps me suck in when ever i read more and more, is like the way the aurthor wrote the story line is so thoughtful. At first page one, you know nothing at all, nothing it just talks bout someting you ave no idea of, but later on as you read on you have that feeling like "ooohhh i get it!" Which to me makes me feel really good.
Little fearless is the main character, she and all of her other friends are trap in this place that is suppose to be for juviniles but instead its almost like those holocaust camps long ago, arg i just cant explain the feeling i have everytime she tries to sneak out to try to find someone from the outside that would believe her.
This book gave me alot of emotions, scared, sad and excitement. AT THE END OF THIS BOOK SOMETHING HAPPEN WHICH SHOCKED ME, I CANT SAY IT HERE OR ELSE ILL RUIN IT FOR YOU SO YEA... JUST READ IT!

[Olivia.g · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be honest, I am a massive book reader and my three cabinets of books can prove that. And, although I criticize books often, I found this book very inspirational and a really good read. Warning, tears will be spilt and feels will be felt. But, I recommended it to all my friends, and they all loved it, so I see no problem why you shouldn't as well. It is meant for a young adult audience, and is definitely worth buying. I'm not going to spoil the book for you like some websites *coughwikipediacough* but, you will not be disappointed. Up there with 'the fault among our stars', this book is definitely recommended by me.

Not that it matters.

And boo to the haters. Get a life then get this book seriously don't judge till you have read it.

I ramble on a lot don't I?

[Clickety · Rating 5 out of 5]

I freaking loved this. The clear, simple, sparse prose. The fable-ish storytelling style. The fact that it's a dystopian adventure in which almost every single character is FEMALE. The fact that the character noted for her beauty has DARK skin. The fact that the author got me to switch between rooting for and against the SAME CHARACTER. (Stench, in case you were wondering.)

Whimsical, dark, and imaginative, this book is a great gateway into dystopian fiction.

[Fireflie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really didn't like it..good basic idea but was written in an annoying style.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't loved a book this much in a long time! Highly recommend.

[Samantha Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in three hours. I couldn't put it down. It can be a little predictable at times, but the characters are complex and the message is poignant.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

It takes a really good book to make me cry. No ordinary novel can evoke such emotion from me. No, it takes a book like Fearless, a book that touches the reader so deeply, to do it. Tim Lott plays on the very essence of human behavior, with his memorable themes, interesting elements, and things that just plain out make you ask why.

A huge theme in Fearless is hope. The main character, Little Fearless, appears to symbolize this theme, as she always is the one to lift spirits and to spur determination when it is most needed. Things are always pretty grim at The Institute. Taken away from their homes, the girls who live there constantly miss their families. After years of waiting, most have given up, accepted the fact that they will never see loved ones again. But time after time, it is Little Fearless who reassures everyone that their families will come one day and that nobody should give up. Little Fearless gives meaning to my favorite poem by Emily Dickenson titled, “Hope is the Thing With Feathers.” It goes like this: “Hope” is the thing with feathers –That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird - That kept so many warm - I’ve heard it in the chilliest land - And on the strangest Sea -Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.” Little Fearless is the bird. She “perches in the soul” by feeding a hope in all of the girls at the Institute that the Controller tries hard to extinguish. Also the part where it goes, “And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird - That kept so many warm,” expresses Little Fearless’s nature. She is extremely persistent. To make her stop bringing hope to the children at The Institute, frankly, you have to kill her. It’s the same with the little bird in the poem. That’s why the theme of Hope is so strongly shown through LF. Just Like Dickenson’s bird, she symbolizes it and she is what drives the entire story forward.

This book made me think a lot about the concept of justice and how hard I would fight for it. I mean, as a girl living in the United States with the freedom of speech, and print, and religion (etc.), I’ve never really dealt with injustice. Sure, in my own very minor way, I suppose you could argue I have- getting an overwhelming amount of homework, having to go to school when there are several feet of snow on the ground just waiting to be played in, having to wake up at six every morning to trudge to class... But Lott imposes the question I’ve never had to think about: What would you do if your freedoms, your inborn rights were taken from you? Everybody likes to think that they would be like Little Fearless and protest and rebel, including me. But the majority of the population, just like it is displayed in the book, would just keep their thoughts quiet and listen to whomever the authority figure. So even if I would be like little fearless, it’s human nature to want to be like everybody else, to fit in. Standing up for freedom takes a lot of courage and, most of the time, is not received kindly. And as much as I want to think I would be like Little Fearless, I don’t think I have the courage.

Another interesting concept in Fearless is identity. Just as with justice, I never really thought about how powerful identity is. Although it is part of human nature to fit in, it is also plain human desire to be recognized and remembered. To be known. In Fearless, the pain of not having an identity really comes clear. When nobody steps forward to admit that they escaped from The Institute, The Controller decides to punish everybody. The girls don’t even have a name when they come to The Institute- just a number given to them when they arrive. They don’t even have a family that they remember. As you can see, they already have lost a lot of what makes them individuals. But, as punishment, the Controller takes away the few unique qualities they have left. First, they all are forced to get haircuts, all to the same exact length. Then, they had all their clothing died grey to math each other. I was surprised to learn as I was reading this book, just how much of an impact this has on a human: “The Controller had started with nine hundred and fifty girls who weren’t quite sure who they were. Then he had all their hair cut off, so it was hard to tell the difference between them – which made it harder to believe that they were really themselves. Now with all their hair the same length and all their clothes the same color, it was harder than ever.” I can’t imagine how terrible it would be to not know who I am. And that is when I realized how terrible the Holocaust must have been. Apart from the obvious tortures- demanding labor, having rights taken away, having families killed- the Jews had all their hair cut off, too, and all their clothes were the same, also. And that is what must have hurt the most. Not being able to distinguish yourself from thousands of peers. And I never really thought about this until I read Fearless. When we’re all the same, nobody is special, nobody is unique, nobody has hope. That is why the Holocaust was so effective and that is why the Controller’s punishments were so effective. All because of identity.

I couldn’t help but realize that this book was set up sort of like a fairytale. First of all, there is that sort of magic element that all fairytales have. The character Stargazer can “see” things. She predicts the future several times, though most girls make fun of her: “’Sometimes I see the future, other times just a possible future that may or may not come true.’” This added a whole other level to the book, a sort of mysterious and mystical one. The same feeling that you get from fairytales. Secondly, the heroine of the novel has to break a few rules and boundaries to reach the truth. Just like Alice going down the rabbit hole, Little Fearless has to break through the boundaries of her reality to find out what the real truth is. In this case, she escapes from The Institute, an unspoken and yet severe offense. But if she hadn’t been brave enough to, just like all the heroes in fairytales, then she never would have seen the truth about her society. Finally, there’s this “three” rule Fearless follows that all fairytales do, too. Like in the Three Little Pigs who don’t find the perfect material to build a house until the third time. Or in the Three Little Bears, when Goldilocks doesn’t find the right temperature porridge until the third one she tries. In Fearless, Little Fearless sneaks out into the city three times, finding parents and telling them the truth about the Institute but it isn’t until the third time that she starts a rebellion. Because all of these elements are so specifically attributed to fairytales, I think that Lott must have used them for a reason, and that it’s not just sheer coincidence. So what was Lott trying to contribute to his story? Well, I can’t know for sure, but what I think that he was trying to do was emphasize the whole “cautionary tale” thing. Like all authors of dystopian fiction, it’s obvious that Lott is trying to send a message or warning to today’s society about what not to do. What better way to do it than in a genre known by everyone that teaches a lesson? So although the fairytale effect may seem a bit childish to some, it is actually very effective.

A really weak element in this book happened to be the characters, which was very unfortunate given that everything else was so well done. The reason for this is, in my opinion, due to a mistake that Lott made when referring to his characters. It is explained in the book that when a girl arrives at the school, they are forced to leave their name behind and take on a number to be referred to as. What the girls call each other, though, is based on their personality traits. For example, Tattle, a good friend of Little Fearless, is called that because she talks a lot. Beauty is the prettiest at the Institute, Soap-dish likes everything to be clean, and Stargazer can see the future. But the problem with these names is that they come to define the characters by a single word. Not they’re attitude or the way they talk, but with the word that is associated with them. Save for Fearless, everybody at the institute is the same to the reader because they are a word rather than a character. Even though this was the books only flaw, it was a pretty major one that I came to despise more and more before I finally turned the last page.

A really cool thing about the setting of this novel is that it has two sides to it. The Community Faith School, or “The Institute”, is presented in two ways depending on the viewpoint (the omniscient narration allows this). From inside the Institute, it’s plain to see that the so called “school” is a prison for the girls there: “There are rats, and we eat food that makes us ill, and everyone is given a number instead of a name, and we have to work all day long, and there are no toys and hardly any books, and no one is free to say what they think.’” The people on the outside, living in the world that the girls in The Institute got taken away from, believe every lie that their leaders tell them. The Institute, referred to by these outsiders as “The Community Faith School”, are told something much different about that terrible place: “It is a good place, that’s for sure. A place where you will learn discipline.
Education. Training. Respect.’” So even though there is really only one setting, this setting is displayed in two different ways giving the reader viewpoints from both the people in The Institute and outside of it.

So, to conclude, Fearless was an easy read, but there is so much more to it than just what’s on the outside. Just like Dickenson’s bird, Little fearless has definitely found a place in my soul and will for sure not be soon forgotten.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this is not that bad of a book. I do like some aspects of this book. For example, I appreciate how it tries to convey a message regarding today's world through specific craft moves. However, there is too much going on. Like, first we have the issue of war. Then we have an issue of abuse. Then we have the issue about labour. I would recommend cutting out everything regarding the war that this book seems to take place. It just gets in the way of this book. However, I have constructed a piece of writing that explains the theme of this book. Well, one of them anyways.

(Claim): Like a stack of perfectly lined up paperwork on a perfectly clean desk, "Little Fearless" by Tim Lott is attempting to awaken every reader, and encourage readers to value comfort and individuality over perfectness and order. If we continue this desire, we will suffer from global issues such as extensive labor and abuse. (Evidence) In this book, there is an institute to reform young girls who are viewed as ‘bad’. They are forced to work all day, and have a rigorous schedule. The man who runs this institute is called the Controller. "All the girls were forced to leave their real names at the gate of the Institute, and were forbidden from every using them,” pg 11. The main protagonist is called Little Fearless, and she hates the institute. “She had asked the Controller why they had to work so had when they were only children,” pg 13. With the power of the Controller, he punishes her, and has no remorse doing so. “Bellyache pushed and shoved Little Fearless towards the squat, threatening ugliness of the discipline block. It was painted black and had a flat concrete roof. It was the size of an ordinary house, but had no upstairs- only a ground floor and a cellar,” pg 15. It is described as cold, damp, and dark. (Warrant) Generally, people do not want to overwork, or be abused over something that they shouldn’t be punished for. (interpretation) For the girls to be perfect and orderly, they must not be individual people; to strip them of their comfort for being different. That is what the author is criticizing: if they were individual people, they would be very hard to individually control and behave. Therefore, they would be autonomous. They would be comfortable with themselves. Masters of their own destiny. Because of that simple fact, it would not be orderly because no one who possesses human traits is perfect, so the Controller threw out the names to group them all as the same. He is also trying to make them perfect people because he is making them do laborious tasks (a quality such as working hard is looked upon as a perfect trait). One man should not have all this power because he is making the girls work tirelessly (everyone is suffering from extensive labor). With his power, he is also allowed to throw out their personalities (symbolized by throwing out the names). Seeing that, Little Fearless questions the Controller’s power. In her perspective, she values comfort and individuality over perfectness and order. Her moral beliefs are the freedom to be autonomous, and be comfortable with it. In addition, when anyone steps out of line such as Little Fearless, he is allowed to abuse them such as throwing them into a cold, dark, and damp cell block. The order that the statutory control wants is giving the Controller too much power. If there was no institution to reform young girls, than crime rates would be higher than what the book says, but to have this desire to perfect people is putting order over individuality and the comfort of it. The author is saying we must not push this desire to this extent or this will happen as a result: he wants people to have the moral values like the character he created, Little Fearless. If we were to compare our world today to theirs, everyone is individual, so having order and perfectness is very difficult. It is nowhere near a utopia. In contrast, their world is a perfect and in order, but no-one is individual. (Conclusion) So in conclusion, when your soul is trapped in a cold, dark, and damp cell block by an overpowered order, take the keys like Little Fearless did even if it a perilous task. We must value comfort and individuality over perfectness and order, or else we will suffer from global issues such as extensive labor and abuse.

[Lance Gabrielson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the book Fearless by Tim Lott he shows that people have to stand up for what is morally correct, if they want to better society. Tim Lott’s message is easily shown through a little society called the “Institution” which has a lot more in common with Hitler’s concentration camps than school. The institution is run by the controller, who represents our governments, or the person that we should stand up to. The controller believes in following the rules to prevent chaos and mayhem. He believes in this rather than giving everyone freedom to do what they wish, or in other words freedom is the morally right thing. Stargazer and Little Fearless stand up for the girls rights around them, and when Little Fearless escapes for a little while she inadvertently teaches the world the harsh truth about the Institution. Her and Stargazer repeatedly defy the controllers orders, like when Stargazer refuses to forget Little Fearless, and when Little Fearless questions the controller on page numbers 9-12. In another display of defiance on page 18 when a X girl demands Little Fearless’s Jacket, Little Fearless said no, keep in mind that the X girls were the Controller’s “Lieutenants”. More often than not in dystopia, and the real world, often a setting with a lack of freedom leads to uprising. Using this evidence you can easily reach the same conclusion that I have which is; people have to stand up for what is morally correct, if they want to better society. This is easily shown when Little Fearless questions the Controller, a supposedly all knowing person who makes the girl’s lives miserable. Such a small action shows that she is willing to stand up and question her morally twisted leaders in order to better her society's, the Institution, living conditions. Another Small yet important action is when Stargazer fails to forget Little Fearless after Little Fearless gets locked up, this shows that she will not forget the sacrifice of others, which gives the people around her hope towards the end of the book. Finally when Little Fearless escapes she inadvertently teaches the world the terrible truths of the Institution, and the people that she reached had others around them rally and look inside what was really happening there, and although the government hid away what was happening there it could have very easily have led to change if some events went differently. The book Fearless by Tim Lott he proves that people need to stand up for what is morally right, if they want to further society’s greatness.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the book, Fearless by Tim Lott, the author teaches us that only when individuals stand up together for what is morally right, then will society change for the better. In this well written dystopian book, our protagonist, Little Fearless, lives in an institution for young girls. Controlled by the ruthless Controller, the girls were forbidden to use their real names and instead given letters and numbers. Little Fearless, who we later learn that her name is Hero, was the only one who never gave up hope, unlike the other girls, and risked herself time after time to find their parents and try to convince them that the institute is not what the City Boss and the Controller say it is, instead it is a place where thousands of girls live and clean the citizen's clothes. "Fearless. Fearless. Fearless. The noise grew, and the people at the demonstration began chanting, too." (pg 250) also on page 249, “... joined the thousands of demonstrators demanding an end to the tears.” Normally we follow rules without question so we won’t have to face the consequences, but if we are letting the rule makers drag us around, them it is better to face the consequences together, to make things right. Before, the citizens of the city were blind and following the rules, laws, and lies the City Boss, the one with power, without question. But when they listened to Little Fearless tell them about the horrors of the institute, they realized that what they have been following was lies, and instead, stood up together and fought for what is right, taking the institute down. When Little Fearless first told the other citizens, they didn’t believe her, but everyone she told could not stop thinking about her, knowing deep inside that even though it was hard to believe, it is the cold, hard truth. The citizens learned that “Sometimes the right path is not the easiest one” - Grandmother Willow, Pocahontas. They knew that what Little Fearless told them, is hard to take in but it is the ruth and the right thing to do was to fight against it. This shows us that only when individuals open their eyes and look towards the light to what is morally good and stand up together to change it, then will the change come.

[Mary Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this for my second-trimester book report, and I can honestly say I did not enjoy it as much as I would have liked. The story opened with an eerie and creepy beginning, leaving me with many questions as to what on earth the story would bring. This book was slow, slower than molasses. There was hardly any plot. The main character is quickly introduced as Little Fearless, a rebellious teenage girl in a terrible institute for children with troubled pasts. Everyone in the Institute is treated like garbage and none of them go by their real names. All the girls have nicknames based on their looks or personalities. The head of the Institute, The Controller, keeps everyone in line and makes everyone miserable.
Little Fearless' friends believe they will all one day escape and burn the Institute to the ground. They hatch a plan to get Little Fearless out of there and try to reach the girls' parents. One by one, she escapes and visits her three friends' houses, but no one believes that she is telling them the truth. She says that the Institute is full of sad little girls and they have to work for hours on end, but no one believes her. Eventually, she is caught by The Controller and locked up in a little prison, far underground. When her friends finally come to get her, she is so weak that she dies. Her friends bring her up for the world to see, and reporters file in, trying to wrap their minds around the situation. As people start to riot at the sight of the girls in the Institute, someone sets the building on fire. With The Controller still inside the building, it is revealed that he was Little Fearless' dad.
Finally, the book ends with L.F.'s friends, years later, holding a memorial service in honor of her. It is then revealed that their dear friend's name was not Little Fearless, but Hero.

[Kobe Datu · Rating 5 out of 5]

If we tighten the leash too tight and thrust too much control, rules and regulations upon ourselves and our people, we'll be, in turn, losing our freedom and the ability to make choices in the process. In the story, "Little Fearless," the author, Tim Lott, awakens the reader and warns us that if we let ourselves be too controlling and too predominant, we'll be throwing away our privileges of independence. This is shown throughout the story, specifically on pages 5-6 where "The Controller" was introduced as a demanding, controlling person that commands order. In contrast, at the end of the story, when the institute burns into pieces, around pages 258, "The Controller" was actually a symbol of freedom before, but when the rules and regulations were shoved into him, his freedom had been extinguished from a burning fire into a smoky wisp. Generally, we have rules in our governments and respective countries, so we can establish order and keep the country plunging into chaos. However, the author warns us that if governments take a step TOO far and tighten the leash TOO much, there WILL be order and organization, but there won't be freedom, choices and the ability to be able. Like the people in power in "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, both stories show that if governments prize order and control over anything else, we'll be losing our freedom and choices. Sure, the government in the story wants the city to be neat, tidy and orderly, but in the process of doing so he is taking away his freedom. Though arrangement and structure is better than complete pandemonium, too much of it can snuffle the fires of our liberty and freedom.

[Aiyanna Isis · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the book, "Fearless" by Tim Lott shows us you have to follow what your heart tells you and not your mind, therefore, people can stand in a group to fight against what's wrong. "She asked for help. I am ashamed to say I did not help her because she was dirty and bedraggled and just a child so I did not believe her." pg 248. "I, too, remember this girl," the voice said."She came to my police station, I am ashamed to say I ignored her." pg 249. "Fearless. Fearless. Fearless. The noise grew, and the people at the demonstration began chanting, too." pg 250. Only when a group of people stands together to do something morally right that's when you can truly see what it feels like to have hope. Fearless means without fear and that is what everyone was feeling once they saw what the school did to Little Fearless. The police said he didn't believe her but that was in his mind because, throughout the story, after they meet he couldn't stop thinking about the girl who asked for his help. This story is about love between a family can never be broken because side by side or miles apart from family is connected by heart. The protagonist, Fearless, goes through a journey of forgiveness, loss, and trust. Having her best friends by her side trying to escape the school, child jail. She is trying to help people in the outside world see how life is in the school, although she has been rejected and cast aside. People in the outside world don't believe a small little girl. She doesn't let anyone's blind eyes stop her from finding the right glasses to help them see. Through her actions, she ends up getting stuck in a conflict which leads her to almost be forgotten. It takes Fearless time to realize there is good in everyone no matter what is shown on the outside.

[Frances · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cross-posted from Nightjar's Jar of Books.

Little Fearless lives at the City Community Faith School, which claims to be a place of redemption and reform for troubled young girls. In actuality, the school is a prison for 1000 girls who have been taken from their families, and are forced to work in awful conditions and with no hope of ever leaving. But Little Fearless never gives up hope of one day being rescued, and always does her best to inspire all the girls around her to do the same.

What I saw in this book was something that was trying to have the emotional impact and level of social commentary as books like The Handmaid's Tale or Nicolas Dane, but which failed utterly at every turn. The characters were all one-dimensional; they each had a single characteristic, and you can identify that characteristic easily just by hearing their names (there's Beauty, who is beautiful, Tattle, who talks all the time, and so on, and so on).

But even apart from the characters, the story and setting were both so over-simplified as to sacrifice realism entirely (even though the power of good dystopian fiction lies in the horrifying thought that it's not completely impossible), and the big twist at the end was both clichéd and predictable. Additionally, although I found this in the YA section of my local library, it really ought to be aimed at younger children, as the reading level is really quite low, and the story not captivating enough to make up for it.

This all comes across as quite damning, but for the record, nothing about this book actively annoyed me, which is the only thing that's saved it from a one-star review (a book has to be really bad for me to only give it one star)... it's just boring. There's a huge amount of dystopian fiction out there these days, and I'd be hard put to it to find one that's less worth your time than Fearless.