Matched

Matched by Ally Condie (NY: Dutton, 2010).

Seventeen-year-old Cassia should be happier than ever--she's been matched to her best friend, Xander--but as she looks at his information microcard, another face flashes onto the screen, Ky. She shouldn't doubt, but she does, and the doubts build up into further doubts not just about the whole matching process, but even the way the Society orchestrates her life, everyone's lives. Why only 100 books, 100 poems, 100 works of art? Why this career, not another? Why this food, not something else? Why these clothes, just like everyone else's? Why this activity at this location? The Society arranges everyone's lives for optimum performance, so there are no choices. Cassia hasn't questioned it, until now. And it's not just her match with Xander, it's her grandfather's scheduled death on his 80th birthday, her mother's secret trips out to the Farmland where something is growing that shouldn't be, her father's destruction projects, Ky's undesirable job in food preparation, and the Matching Official's increasingly determined efforts to keep her and Ky apart.

Matched headily combines romance, suspense, and dystopia. Readers who enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy will like Matched as well. Highly recommended for grades 7 & up.