SEQUENCE is a young adult novel whose central protagonist, Franklin \"Flex\" Bennet, is a mixed race teen struggling to find acceptance in a small Kentucky town. Already dealing with several strikes against him, his troubles intensify when he starts manifesting supernatural abilities, which only make him feel more of a freak. Try as he might, he can't keep his powers hidden for very long and soon finds himself in a secret bunker under the \"protection\" of ARC, a government task force, where he meets a diverse group of kids with powers just like him, all of them the result of SEQUENCE, a decades long genetics experiment. While ARC promises answers about what they are and were created for, Flex finds himself questioning who to trust as the truth seems to be more sinister than he could imagine. To make matters worse, every time he tries to use his powers for good, something goes wrong, leaving him desolate and discouraged. When he is faced with the prospect of losing someone he cares about, he has to put aside his fear and find the confidence to launch a rescue mission while accepting the help of his new-found family of fellow superpowered teens. SEQUENCE is a story that explores the themes of diversity, acceptance, tolerance, and the traits that make for real heroes.
","abstract_html":"<p>SEQUENCE is a young adult novel whose central protagonist, Franklin "Flex" Bennet, is a mixed race teen struggling to find acceptance in a small Kentucky town. Already dealing with several strikes against him, his troubles intensify when he starts manifesting supernatural abilities, which only make him feel more of a freak. Try as he might, he can't keep his powers hidden for very long and soon finds himself in a secret bunker under the "protection" of ARC, a government task force, where he meets a diverse group of kids with powers just like him, all of them the result of SEQUENCE, a decades long genetics experiment. While ARC promises answers about what they are and were created for, Flex finds himself questioning who to trust as the truth seems to be more sinister than he could imagine. To make matters worse, every time he tries to use his powers for good, something goes wrong, leaving him desolate and discouraged. When he is faced with the prospect of losing someone he cares about, he has to put aside his fear and find the confidence to launch a rescue mission while accepting the help of his new-found family of fellow superpowered teens. SEQUENCE is a story that explores the themes of diversity, acceptance, tolerance, and the traits that make for real heroes. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Pryor, Deri Ross"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts (MFA)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"English and Theatre","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:47Z","subjects":["Fiction"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2017 Deri Ross Pryor"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/552","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Pryor, Deri Ross"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English and Theatre"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Fiction"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2017 Deri Ross Pryor"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/552"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["SEQUENCE is a young adult novel whose central protagonist, Franklin \"Flex\" Bennet, is a mixed race teen struggling to find acceptance in a small Kentucky town. Already dealing with several strikes against him, his troubles intensify when he starts manifesting supernatural abilities, which only make him feel more of a freak. Try as he might, he can't keep his powers hidden for very long and soon finds himself in a secret bunker under the \"protection\" of ARC, a government task force, where he meets a diverse group of kids with powers just like him, all of them the result of SEQUENCE, a decades long genetics experiment. While ARC promises answers about what they are and were created for, Flex finds himself questioning who to trust as the truth seems to be more sinister than he could imagine. To make matters worse, every time he tries to use his powers for good, something goes wrong, leaving him desolate and discouraged. When he is faced with the prospect of losing someone he cares about, he has to put aside his fear and find the confidence to launch a rescue mission while accepting the help of his new-found family of fellow superpowered teens. SEQUENCE is a story that explores the themes of diversity, acceptance, tolerance, and the traits that make for real heroes.
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"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/552"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2017 Deri Ross Pryor"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Fiction"],"dc:title":["Sequence"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English and Theatre"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:47Z"}