Shelly's Book Blog

I finished Unwind, by Neal Shusterman, yesterday and now I'm reading it aloud to my boys. They never want me to stop reading! It's hard to find a place to stop because this is a really high energy book -- very exciting and fast moving. The story is set in the not-too-distant future (ipods and plasma screen televisions are from the characters' grandparents' time). In this dystopian world, kids are subject to being "unwound" when they are between the ages of 13 and 18. Once they reach age 18 they are safe, but if their parents or guardians decide to sign the order, they will be killed and all of their body parts will be harvested and given to other people who need them. The story follows three kids who are supposed to be Unwinds but who manage to escape. It's a pretty bizarre premise but it works well in this story. I really like that the author explores the issue of the value of human life from several perspectives. For example, in this world people who have unwanted babies are allowed to "stork" them -- that is, to leave them on someone's doorstep and just leave. If they are caught doing this, they must keep the baby afterall, but if they are not, the people who live in the house have to take care of the child. This was an imaginative, exciting book and I really enjoyed it!