Forsaken (book 1)

(http://www.lisamstasse.com/blog1/the_forsaken_by_lisa_m_stasse/)

As an obedient orphan of the U.N.A. (the super-country that was once Mexico, the U.S., and Canada), Alenna learned at an early age to blend in and be quiet–having your parents taken by the police will do that to a girl. But Alenna can’t help but stand out when she fails a test that all sixteen-year-olds have to take: The test says she has a high capacity for brutal violence, and so she is sent to The Wheel, an island where all would-be criminals end up.

The life expectancy of prisoners on The Wheel is just two years, but with dirty, violent, and chaotic conditions, the time seems a lot longer as Alenna is forced to deal with civil wars for land ownership and machines that snatch kids out of their makeshift homes. Desperate, she and the other prisoners concoct a potentially fatal plan to flee the island. Survival may seem impossible, but Alenna is determined to achieve it anyway.

Characters (from Wikipedia)

Alenna Shawcross – the sixteen-year-old protagonist and narrator. She is described as having brown hair and blue eyes.

Liam – a mysterious boy who is the village’s best fighter and scouter. Alenna feels connected to him some how.

Gadya – Alenna’s friend and a fighter for the village, Gadya had been on the “wheel” for fourteen months and used to be in a relationship with Liam.  Rika is another friends

Matthieu Veidman – the leader of the village. Veidman has been on the “wheel” for three and a half years. He is in a relationship with Meira.

Meira – often mistaken as Veidman’s sister/twin, Meira is a beautiful girl and Veidman’s girlfriend.

David Aberly – a boy who helps Alenna at the start of the book but is captured by the Monk. Throughout the books there is confusion about whose side David is on.  He claims that he worked with a cell in his home of Providence RI, but his behavior makes Alenna question his motives

The Monk – the leader of four out of six sectors of the “wheel”, not much is known about the Monk, except for the fact that he has been on the “wheel” much longer than any of the others. He turns out to be Minister Hara, who is believed to be running the country but is in fact on the Wheel, ill and dying. 

The drones are the monk’s warriors

Uprising (Book 2)

from pulseit.com

Alenna escaped. It was expected that she would die on the wheel, the island where would-be criminals are sent as directed by the UNA–the totalitarian supercountry that was once the United States, Mexico, and Canada. But Alenna and her boyfriend, Liam, made it to safety. Except safety, they will soon learn, is relative.  The UNA is collecting kids from the wheel and keeping them in stasis so they can study them and figure out why they are immune to the mystery drug the UNA is using to keep everyone under control.

In order to bring down the UNA, they must first gain control of the wheel. If the mission succeeds, the wheel will become a base of revolution. But between betrayals, a new Monk leading a more organized army of Drones, and the discovery of a previously unknown contingent, Alenna, Liam, and their allies might be in over their heads. One thing Alenna knows for sure: There will be a reckoning. And not everyone she loves will make it out alive.

Cass is a new character, a former Drone.  Alenna and Liam have a hard time trusting her at first.  They are also joined by Octavio, Alun and Emma.  When they arrive at The Wheel, they are captured, but manage to escape and find Gadya, who was saved by a third Wheel tribe, the travelers, who have patched up her injuries. The travelers try to avoid contact with others and just live peacefully among themselves. When David shows up with a black box he claims he modified to control the feeler machines, the travelers want nothing to do with any of it, and throw out all of them, including Gadya.  David informs everyone there is a new Monk, who turns out to be Meira. She has been working for the UNA all along, training drones to be soldiers. Meira tells everyone they are on the losing side, the specimens are going to be destroyed.  She kills herself.  Alenna takes the Monk mask and, posing as the Monk,  tries to disarm the Drones.  The travelers suddenly appear and join the fight.  Alenna and company go to the place where the specimens are held.  Mysteriously, Alenna’s mom appears and tells them what to do to destroy the place.  David sacrifices himself.  The groups finds Rika.  They have taken the Wheel and are ready for war.