Island of Silence (unwanteds, #2)

The second book in The Unwanteds series picks up after the battle that ended the first installment. In this world, the island society of Quill sorts all thirteen-year-olds into three categories: Wanteds, who are valued and educated; Necessaries, who serve as laborers; and Unwanteds, creative children condemned to death. Unknown to Quill, the mage Marcus Today has secretly saved every Unwanted by transporting them to Artimé, a hidden magical world on the other side of the island, where creativity fuels powerful magic.

Following the defeat of Quill's tyrannical High Priest Justine, Mr. Today removes the gate separating Artimé from Quill. The openness creates painful encounters for four Unwanted friends: Alex Stowe, Meghan Ranger, Samheed Burkesh, and Lani Haluki. Samheed refuses to speak with his visiting mother, burdened by guilt over his father's death, and Alex's parents remain loyal to his ambitious Wanted twin, Aaron Stowe. Only Lani's family has reconciled, with her father, Gunnar Haluki, now serving as Quill's new high priest.

In Quill, Aaron has been stripped of his title as Justine's assistant secretary. When soldiers from the Quillitary, Quill's military force, eject him from the university, he wanders the island for days, too proud to return home. He breaks into the abandoned Haluki governor's house, finding provisions and secretly taking up residence. In the office closet, he discovers a mysterious giant glass cylinder but dismisses it.

Mr. Today asks Alex to become his permanent successor, with Ms. Claire Morning, Mr. Today's daughter, helping during the transition. He explains that the conflict between Alex and Aaron mirrors his own past conflict with Justine. Alex refuses, feeling overwhelmed, but Mr. Today continues drawing him in, sharing the story of how he created Simber, his enormous winged stone cheetah, from sand on the beach. He also shows Alex the Museum of Large, a hidden room containing his journals, treasures, and everything needed to understand how Artimé works.

Quill deteriorates as Necessaries abandon their duties for Artimé. At a peace meeting, Mr. Today confesses that he and Justine stole the memories and abilities of Quill's original founders decades ago and restores them. One founder, Gondoleery Rattrapp, is furious. Another, a woman long known only as Secretary, weeps upon remembering her real name: Eva Fathom. Aaron capitalizes on the unrest, distributing food to disgruntled Wanteds and twisting Gondoleery's revelations into propaganda against Mr. Today. His following grows into a group called the Restorers. Eva, promised her old position in exchange for loyalty, becomes Aaron's spy inside Artimé, stealing spell components and reporting on its defenses.

In Artimé's advanced combat-magic class, Alex demonstrates a devastating new spell called "heart attack": a heart-shaped clay component that sprouts wings, strikes the target's chest, and causes complete collapse. Florence, the ebony warrior trainer statue, is deeply impressed. Meanwhile, a makeshift raft washes ashore carrying two unconscious strangers, a boy and a girl, both wearing thick bands of metal thorns threaded through the skin of their necks. The girl eventually wakes but cannot speak, and her golden-orange eyes captivate Alex. Troubled by the thorn collars, Mr. Today decides to take a short investigative trip to the nearby islands with Eva and agrees to reinstall the gate while he is away.

Lani proposes an adventure to cheer up Meghan. She, Samheed, and Meghan take Ms. Morning's boat without permission and sail to Warbler Island, the nearest island to the west, which proves eerily silent. Moments after stepping ashore without their spell component vests, all three are struck unconscious. Lani wakes to Meghan's screams as captors thread metal thorns through Meghan's neck. Lani fights back, enabling Meghan to escape toward the boat, but she cannot wake Samheed. In desperation, she casts a seek spell to reach Alex before dozens of silent, orange-eyed islanders overpower and capture her.

Alex and Simber fly west after catching Lani's spell. They find Meghan clinging to the empty boat's ladder with a fresh thorn band in her neck, unable to speak. With no sign of Lani or Samheed, Alex makes the agonizing decision to leave them behind to save Meghan.

That evening, Mr. Today and Ms. Morning travel to Quill using the glass tube in the Haluki house closet. Mr. Today steps out directly into Aaron's headquarters. Aaron seizes stolen heart attack components from the desk and flings all five at Mr. Today. The five simultaneous strikes overwhelm the mage, and he dies. Ms. Morning emerges moments later and is captured.

Mr. Today's death triggers the collapse of everything he created. The mansion vanishes, replaced by the original gray shack. All magical creatures, including Florence and the girrinos that guard Artimé's borders, become lifeless. The landscape reverts to barren cement, and spells cease to function. Alex, who had been flying over the ocean with Simber, finds himself alone in the water; Simber is gone. The Restorers charge through the now-open gate and attack the defenseless Unwanteds. In the chaotic overnight battle, Lani's mother Mrs. Haluki is killed, over thirty Unwanteds die, and most Necessaries flee back to Quill.

Alex drags Meghan ashore to find Artimé destroyed. Sean Ranger, Meghan's brother, insists Alex must lead. Alex addresses the assembled Unwanteds with a speech honoring Mr. Today, organizes teams for water, food, shelter, and security, and asks each person to pledge loyalty. The crowd responds, adopting a fist-to-chest gesture as a symbol of solidarity.

Aaron captures High Priest Haluki at gunpoint and forces him to validate Aaron's new title of associate high priest. He addresses Quill, offering returning Necessaries labor and incentivizing the recruitment of Unwanteds with bonus food rations. The obedient crowd accepts without resistance. Aaron then visits Alex to gloat, revealing he killed Mr. Today with Alex's own heart attack spell and that Eva stole the components. Alex confirms the betrayal when he locks eyes with Eva in Aaron's vehicle. Before leaving, Aaron hands Alex Mr. Today's colorful robe, claiming he does not want it.

On the shack roof, Alex finds a folded note from Mr. Today in his pocket containing a cryptic poem: "Follow the dots as the traveling sun, / Magnify, focus, every one. / Stand enrobed where you first saw me, / Utter in order; repeat times three" (404). A postscript reveals Mr. Today's dark humor about his own death, warns that Aaron still has two heart attack components, and closes: "I do believe in you" (404). Alex realizes "enrobed" means wearing the robe Aaron unwittingly delivered. The silent girl, who reveals through gestures that her name is Sky, brings Alex a miniature replica of the mansion she found in a cupboard, and the discovery fills him with hope that Artimé can be restored.

The book ends with three parallel scenes. In Quill, Gondoleery reaches into childhood memories of innate magic, flings water skyward, and commands it to rain; the cloudless sky opens with a downpour, revealing she possesses power independent of Mr. Today. On Warbler Island, Samheed and Lani sit blinded and voiceless in a dark cave, holding each other and waiting for rescue. On the shack roof, Alex clutches the robe and the note, gazing west toward the islands where his friends are trapped, and whispers, "Hold on."