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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Austen, C. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
It's the middle of the twenty-first century and the elite children of New Middletown are lined up to receive a treatment that turns them into obedient, well-mannered citizens. Maxwell Connors, a fifteen-year-old prankster, misfit and graffiti artist, observes the changes with growing concern, especially when his younger sister, Ally, is targeted. Max and his best friend, Dallas, escape the treatment, but must pretend to be "zombies" while they watch their freedoms and hopes decay. When Max's family decides to take Dallas with them into the unknown world beyond New Middletown's borders, Max's creativity becomes an unexpected bonus rather than a liability.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 8-11-Maxwell Connors lives in the planned community of New Middletown with his mother and younger sister, Ally. It's an oasis in a bleak world of extreme temperatures, oil scarcities, frequent terrorist attacks, and genetically engineered "ultimate" children. Max, an aspiring artist, entertains himself with football, pranks, and the odd act of graffiti. He gradually notices a change in the local children; they have become zombielike in their obedience. Their complacent behavior is linked to the flu shot that everyone except Max and his best friend receives at school (Max's mother, a nurse, fakes the injections). The teen must keep up a charade of conformity, which adds a touch of humor to this otherwise grim novel. Ally is inoculated against her mother's wishes, which ratchets up the urgency for the family's escape to Canada. These final chapters are the book's strongest in terms of suspense and human drama. For example, they pass through Freaktown, where Max's favorite reality show is set, and Max sees these humans in a new light. A bit more exposition would have helped orient readers to Max's world, but this potential problem may actually help some reluctant readers slip right into the action. Repeated use of the word "faggot" accompanies a troubling vein of homophobia throughout. This middling dystopian effort would make a serviceable alternative for readers put off by the length of more substantial futuristic reads such as Neal Shusterman's Unwind (2007) or Jonathan Maberry's Rot & Ruin (2010, both S & S).-Amy Pickett, Ridley High School, Folsom, PA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Austen's first novel for teens wears its influences proudly-characters watch Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Stepford Wives-while delivering an entertaining and creepy story. In this dystopian future, the company town of New Middletown is a rare safe area, a walled community built by Chemrose Inter-national to support its huge geriatric home business. Rights have been stripped away across the country, and in New Middletown, students are ordered to take a "vaccination" that makes them docile and eager to follow all rules. Rebellious 15-year-old artist Max and his friend Dallas avoid the first dose (thanks to Max's mother, a nurse opposed to the program), but they know that their attempts to fool everyone will eventually be detected. Austen (Walking Backward) keeps the story moving with a well-rounded supporting cast (including Max's younger sister; his quirky hacker friend; Xavier; and a gym coach also against the treatments), and she adds enough detail to her world to make the plot believable. Few will be surprised by the ending (or most of the plot points), but the social commentary and character development make it a worthwhile journey. Ages 12-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
A witty, artistic teenage boy named Max resists the government of his city when he notices his fellow students becoming docile and obedient. The strengths of this dystopian novel include a creepy premise and Max's strong first-person narrative voice pointing out wry humor in the most dire of situations. Copyright 2010 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
(Dystopia. 12 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Max lives in a working-class subdivision in the rust belt of the not-too-distant future. Increasingly heightened security is a regular inconvenience, but Max is too focused on friends and football and Pepper Cassidy to perceive any real interference. Then all of the students in the country are subjected to a mandatory series of psychotropic inoculations. Max conspires to escape the forced compliance and begins to realize just how little freedom his fellow citizens have left, and his contempt for authority and fierce devotion to his family inspire both frustration and commitment. Austen writes with cinematic definition, driving the action with taut dialogue and unremitting menace. By alternating recognizable adolescent struggles with dystopian horrors, she makes the threat of totalitarian mind control all the more visceral. Each of the book's three parts begins with a nineteenth-century rhyme that reflects society's insistence on childhood obedience, drawing a plausible through line from our history to the book's chilling premise. Action packed, terrifying, and believable, this entertaining novel will provoke important discussions about subservience, resistance, and individual freedom.--Barthelmess, Thom Copyright 2010 Booklist