Lexicon

In a nondescript school outside of Arlington, Virginia, students aren't taught history, geography, or mathematics—not in the usual ways, anyway. They're taught to persuade. The art of coercion has been raised to a science. Students harness the hidden power of language to manipulate the mind and learn to break down individuals by psychographic markers to take control of their thoughts. The very best will graduate as poets—adept wielders of language who belong to a nameless organization that is as influential as it is secretive. Whip-smart orphan Emily Ruff is making a living running a three-card Monte game on the streets of San Francisco when she attracts the attention of the organization's recruiters. They fly her across country for the school's strange and rigorous entrance exams, where she's admitted after passing elaborate tests on persuasion, manipulation, and control. Once there, she'll be taught by Bronte, Eliot, and Lowell—the school's masters in these fields—for up to ten years.