Matthew Black Jr. lives in a world governed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where the motto "Health is hope!" can be heard at the end of all mandatory propaganda. Matt could forgive the transparent corniness of it all if he weren't completely hopeless and his best friend, William Patterson, wasn't far from healthy.

Children are inspected yearly to ensure the maximum genetic fitness of the population. Those with even the most minor ticks are executed publicly, only to be met with thunderous applause from a crowd of eager spectators. Since the biowarfare that ended and started it all, CDC-accredited doctors are the most revered and feared profession.

Matt has bigger problems than the CDC. Always has. His drunk father makes the top of that list. Between that man, the crap laws, Will's diabetes, and his own quick temper, Matt is always on the brink of a fight. He's crafty and far from shy, some say blunt, but Matt knows how to survive. Although not always by much.

For fans of gripping dystopian narratives like The Hunger Games and Divergent, Grayscale follows the complex lives of two boys who grew up as brothers, sharing the best and worst of their families to make it by in a world obsessed with health. When the Empire starts taking an interest in them, the lives they had before are shattered, and they are left scrambling to find ways not only to preserve precious relationships but also ways to stay alive.