Moonshine

Thousands of Sparrows pour into Washington DC to protest the detention and treatment of Callum, setting up a confrontation with President Conner that could bring about Callum’s release or a fresh round of violence and disaster for the Sparrows.

The New America government posts a photo of a beaten, starved Callum in a blog that the Sparrow Press readers would easily find, refusing to release Callum even after his sentence. Jude decides it’s time for the Sparrows to go on the offensive. 

In an off-the-record meeting, the DA warns Callum’s attorney that the President is not happy, and if Callum is is not released on time and the Sparrows protest, there could be violence.

ADAMS delivers its analysis of Callum’s case to the judge, but the President makes his desires known too. Will he make an example of Callum or give him a fair decision?

Someone breaks out of the National Detention Center, and Jude and Zara are now the most wanted people in New America.

The Sparrows put on a highly coordinated guerrilla art display in Washington, DC with one message: free Callum Kane. President Blake Connor is furious.

Jude and Zara are offered a deal: call off the protesters and they can walk free. Jude tries to hold out for Callum’s release, but backs down when he realizes that will put all of Slate Creek at risk. 

SAC protesters have come to DC to demonstrate outside the National Detention Center in support of Jude and Zara. They are nonviolent, and the government is struggling to find a legal reason to remove them. The Sparrows have become a movement.

Zara and Jude are detained in the National Detention Center, and Zara meets a hacker who not only knows about the Sparrow Press, but she assures Zara ADAMS doesn’t know everything. They work together to keep the Sparrow Press going right under the nose of the New American government.

Jude and Zara meet Callum's attorney in Washington, D.C. When they crossed over the Appalachia border, they were given matching coffee mugs, which turned out to be trackers. They tried to flee, but it was too late. 

Jude and Zara are back in Slate Creek for the winter while their attorney is working on getting Callum out. Zara confesses she’s not sure how she feels about religion, and Rod encourages her to read “everything in red”, look past religion, and look for truth. 

Zara meets Sonja Orozco in detention, and they learn that CAMO and the New America government is extracting kids to CME schools and overrunning SAC land aggressively and illegally in Baja. New desalination plants are pumping water into the deserts and creating arable land, but also replacing the SAC holdouts. 

Jude and Zara take a detour to the Gulf near Biloxi and get caught in a storm, so they spend the night in their vehicle. In the morning, they are awakened by an officer and scanned for ID- but Zara doesn’t have one, so she is detained. 

At the Blue Ridge SAC, students are taking their alternative exams after preparing for a few days with Maren Kane’s study guides. How long until the government realizes the Sparrows are beating them at their own game?

Jude avoids getting mugged by paying off the thieves, and “rescues” the damaged delivery drone. They are preparing for a SAC road trip. Altered exams and failing power grids are the two battle fronts now.

After SAC kids suddenly start failing exams, the Sparrows find out the tests have been intentionally altered by the New America Department of Education in an effort to extract SAC kids to the cities. The Sparrows enlist the help of Maren Kane, Jude and Maisy‘s mom, to help them uncover what’s happening with the exams and find a way for students to beat them at their own game.

After thwarting an attempt by the New America Defense Forces to take over the Chillicothe SAC in the last chapter, the Sparrows get word the special forces may be coming to take it by force, and Jude recommends they not be there when that happens. Can the Sparrows save the SAC by helping them escape?

In the Chillicothe SAC, Jude teaches 20 young residents how to repair and maintain the power grid so they don’t lose power again. The Sparrows are just in time: the New America Defense Forces are about to face off with the Sparrows for the first time. 

Maisy and Zara remind Jude he is more than a fixer: he’s a leader. The Sparrows come to grips with who they really are and their mission in New America.

Jude, Zara, and Maisy travel to Kansas City and meet Max, a SAC leader, attorney, and important ally in his underground headquarters. They realize that the pressure they are facing is not about crops; the government may be trying to actively reduce the population. 

The poverty in Omaha gives way to unrest, but they meet an ally that helps Zara learn how to tell her stories.

An assault on the girls is thwarted by Jude, and they get valuable information from the attackers that will help them on their journey.

Deciding to cross New America, Jude, Zara, and Maisy rely on the generosity of the SACs, but they end up giving much more than they take.

After a harrowing trip to Seattle, Jude, Zara, and Maisy make it onto a military base and learn Callum is being held in Washington, DC.

After getting a taste of the city, they find out where Callum is not being held: Vancouver. They must decide to go home or push on.

After landing in Vancouver, they all see Cubes for the first time and get a taste of the conditions in the city.

Jude and Maisy pick up an unexpected partner in their journey, and all three of them face a snowstorm in the harsh wilderness of Cascadia.

Jude and Maisy pick up an unexpected partner in their journey.

Jude and Maisy seek shelter in the Squamish River SAC, but it is quickly apparent the SAC needs them more than they need it.

Jude leaves the SAC compound in search of Callum, and against everyone’s advice, he is joined by his sister Maisy.

Callum shoots down a government drone and then disappears. His brother Jude and sister Maisy are determined to find him.

After Callum Kane shoots down a surveillance drone, he disappears. His brother Jude and sister Maisy find only the aftermath, and must try to find out what happened to their brother.

Introducing the Silence of the Sparrows podcast. I'm your host, author J.P. McCollum. Each episode of the podcast will feature an excerpt from a chapter and some insight you won't find anywhere else. We're going to follow Jude Kane, his sister Maisy, and their neighbor Zara Malik as they cross New America looking for their brother who disappeared from their home and whom they believe may have been taken by the government. As they travel, they lend help to many others who also oppose this new government, and without intending to, they begin a movement that may make it harder to find their brother and bring him home. Are you ready?