Despite this, she deepens her relationship with Callum, and even sits at a table with Noughts, upsetting Callum, though they eventually make up. Sephy is overjoyed to see Callum in her class, but most of her classmates do not accept her association with a Nought. The two meet again in Heathcroft, a high school for Crosses that now accepts the best-performing Noughts. Ever since Jasmine fired Meggie, however, Sephy and Callum's friendship has been secret, as such interracial friendships are frowned upon by society. Callum McGregor is a Nought, and they used to play together when Jasmine Adeyebe-Hadley, Sephy's mother, employed Meggie McGregor, Callum's mother, as a nanny. Persephone 'Sephy' Hadley is a Cross and the daughter of a wealthy senior politician, Kamal Hadley, who later becomes Prime Minister. The second race, the Noughts (lighter-skinned people) are at the poorer end of society usually doing manual labour or being servants to Crosses, with poor schools – if any at all. There are two races in the book: the Crosses (darker-skinned people) are the dominant race with the individuals owning most of the wealth, good jobs, different and better schools etc. Racial inequality is the driving force of the storyline, and there are few laws or constitutional protections to prevent discrimination. Their world is similar to the reality of the 21st century, with equivalent types of jobs, of government, and so on. The book Noughts and Crosses is an alternate reality fiction based in a 22nd-century parallel universe. Novels Noughts & Crosses Noughts & Crosses

There are six books in the series: Noughts and Crosses, Knife Edge, Checkmate, Double Cross, Crossfire, and Endgame. The chapters alternate, with even chapters being Callum's and odd ones Sephy's. The first book is written from two different perspectives – Callum's and Sephy's (Persephone) – and their experiences of their entwined but very different worlds. Seeming to be similar to the United Nations in scope but similar to the European Union in powers, it is playing a role in forcing change by directives and boycotts.

An international organisation, the Pangaean Economic Community, exists.

The series takes place in an alternative 21st-century Britain.Īt the time of the series, slavery had been abolished for some time, but segregation, similar to the Jim Crow Laws, continues to operate to keep the Crosses (dark-skinned people) in control of the Noughts (lighter-skinned people). The series is speculative fiction describing an alternative history. Noughts & Crosses is a series of young adult novels by British author Malorie Blackman, including six novels and three novellas. For other uses of Noughts and Crosses, see Noughts and crosses (disambiguation). This article is about the novel series by Malorie Blackman.

Noughts and crosses series