Birthmarked

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien (NY: Roaring Brook Press, 2010).

The dystopic world of Birthmarked takes a society of haves and have nots to a new level. Gaia Stone, a teen-aged midwife who lives outside the walls of the Enclave in the village of Wharton, is definitely a have not. And her already harsh life has taken a turn for the worse as the novel opens and she finds that her parents have been arrested and taken to the prison inside the walls of the Enclave. She has been ostracized her entire life because of her scarred face--the result of a childhood accident. Despite this she has lived happily enough with her friend Emily and her parents, and she has learned to be a midwife from her mother. She knows her place as a midwife--to supervise births and hand over a quota of babies to the Nursery in the Enclave every month, babies that are needed to diversify the gene pool of the elite inhabitants who are falling prey to genetic illnesses like hemophilia after years of inbreeding. With her parents gone, suspected of treason, Gaia is not only alone, but under suspicion herself. A family friend gives her a codified message on a ribbon from Gaia's mother that may contain the information Gaia needs to get her parents out of prison--or get them killed. Gaia's efforts to save her parents lead her into the Enclave where she witnesses the barbarity of the government's controls, and begins to understand how far the officials will go to maintain their positions and their society.

O'Brien has created an oppressive world with an odd blend of the modern and archaic. The story moves along well, though the romance between Gaia and Officer Grey seems forced and unlikely. The mystery of the coded ribbon and Gaia's quest to save her parents provide an excellent focus that pushes the story forward and builds to a satisfying climax as Gaia has to decide what to do with the knowledge she gains within the walls. I would have liked more pointed criticism of the global climate change that led to the formation of this world, given that Wharton is situated on the banks of "Unlake Superior" and surrounded, supposedly, by wasteland. Perhaps in the sequel? Recommended for ages 12 & up.

Bumped

Bumped by Megan McCafferty (NY: Balzer & Bray, 2011).

Bumped plunges the reader into an odd dystopian world where a virus affects everyone at age 18 and renders them infertile. This means that teen pregnancy is not only required, but glorified—and aggressively pursued by parents! Yes, parents push their girls to get pregnant and even turn it to their financial advantage. Girls do not dream of marriage but rather bumping (i.e., having sex and getting pregnant) with "reproaesthetical" sex partners, generally arranged by conception contractors for surrogate parents.

The narrative switches between the perspectives of Melody and Harmony, identical twin girls who were separated at birth and grew up in very different environments. Melody's parents, wealthy New Jersey college professors, have spared no expense to make her into a desirable match who will produce an ideal baby, or preferably multiple babies, for some lucky parents who will pay top dollar for her progeny. Harmony, on the other hand, has lived in Goodside (in Pennsylvania), a religious enclave separate from Otherside, where Melody lives. People in Goodside marry young and reproduce, and they want to convert all the sinners in Otherside. Indeed, Harmony ventures out of Goodside to find her long-lost twin and save her.

McCafferty creates a wholly believable dystopia in Bumped, complete with its own ridiculous language and social customs that totally mock present day values, including those of religious fundamentalists. In some ways it's reminiscent of Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale in that respect, but it's different in its criticism of consumerist culture (there it's more like Westerfeld's Uglies trilogy). Because the reader is catapulted into this world, it seems very confusing at first, although Melody's character in particular is realistically drawn with familiar teen concerns about family, friends, and boys, even given her extreme situation. Harmony's character is less fleshed out and more reliant on stereotypes, yet she becomes more real as she spends time in Melody's world. McCafferty is facing the eternal dilemma that good is a whole lot less interesting than evil, and the middle space yields the greatest potential for an engrossing story. Despite the bumpy start, Bumped is well worth reading.

Recommended for ages 13 & up. Sexual situations (not graphic).

Delirium

Delirium by Lauren Oliver (NY: Harper, 2011).

Magdalena is counting the days till she has the procedure that will protect her forever from contracting the dreaded amor deliria nervosa. She knows it can kill people--her own mother proved incurable and actually committed suicide rather than submit to another attempt to alter her resistant brain. Lena's older sister tells her that the procedure will make all her days easy, an endless stream of calm with a suitable mate selected just for her. Still, Lena is nervous about the evaluation that comes a few months before the actual procedure. Her best friend Hana claims to not be worried, but even she makes a cryptic remark about knowing happiness right before they enter the laboratory. Maybe it's that comment or just the atmosphere, or her own doubts about what she might have inherited from her mother, but Lena stumbles during the evaluation, giving answers she knows will give her a low mark. Then there's an interruption...the rebels living in the Wilds outside the city have somehow herded cows into the facility, and Lena catches a glimpse of a boy with hair the color of autumn leaves who winks at her from the observation deck above the evaluation room as the mayhem ensues. Lena's remarks may go unrecorded since she'll have to retake the evaluation, but she thinks the boy may have heard what she said.

He's also seen her before, when she and Hana run through the streets. Suddenly Lena is doing things she never would have dreamed of doing in the past. She and Hana break into the grounds of the lab, trying to see how the cows got in. The boy, Alex, is a guard there and Lena again feels a tug of attraction to him. Their romance, played out against the precepts of this dystopian society that has essentially outlawed love, develops with all the delicious intensity of the forbidden. Although you know this can't end well, you will still cry at the end.

Awesome read, especially for fans of Westerfeld's Uglies series and Collins's Hunger Games trilogy. Sexual situations. Ages 13 & up.

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.

The Hunger Games & Catching Fire

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (NY: Scholastic, 2008).

I wasn't sure I'd like this one--despite all the rave reviews, awards, and prizes. It sounded so brutal--a game that has kids killing kids? On TV? I do not like reality TV, especially the survival shows, but with Hunger Games Collins adds enough dystopic and critical elements--not to mention romance!--that I could abide it. This is a great story, very well told, with characters who are worth caring about.

The setting is a post-apocalyptic United States renamed Panem with twelve districts and a Capitol. Some kind of evil dictatorship oversees a brutal regime that has wiped out a thirteenth district at some point and demands "tributes" to its authority in the form of two children from each of the remaining twelve districts who must fight to the death in an annual event called the eponymous Hunger Games--broadcast live on national television and required viewing for all citizens. The districts and their residents have regimented lives dominated by work and survival. The government controls everyone and limits access to food and other necessities. Our heroine, Katniss Everdeen, illegally hunts in the woods outside the boundaries of district 12. After her father's death in a mining accident, she has needed her skills to keep her mother and little sister alive. When her little sister's name is drawn to compete in the Hunger Games, Katniss naturally volunteers to go in her place and while assuming she will die, fights to survive. Her relationship with the other competitor from her district, a boy named Peeta who has been kind to her in the past, develops in ways she never anticipated, and the Hunger Games takes on a new twist with Katniss as a competitor.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (NY: Scholastic, 2009).

Catching Fire takes the survival elements of The Hunger Games to the next level in an excellent sequel that will have fans agonizing to know what will happen in the final installment, Mockingjay.

Katniss and Peeta are in a difficult position, unlike any other victors in previous Hunger Games. They've manipulated the system so that two have survived instead of the customary one. And the government is not happy about it. Katniss tries to think of a way to escape but in the end has to go along to the next event, a special Hunger Game for the 75th anniversary that involves two past victors from every district competing in a spectacularly brutal game. The President himself is threatening Katniss and all those she loves, and the intrigues and alliances are so intricate it's hard to tell what is happening. Events in the real world merge with the game in the end, and while Katniss survives it's not clear whether any part of her world will in the end.

Violence, mild sexual content, no language. Grades 7 & up.