YA Pick: Not Even Bones

Not Even Bones
by Rebecca Schaeffer
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2018
355 pages
ISBN: 9781328863546

Gruesome, grisly and ghastly but all in the best ways, Not Even Bones lives up to its pitched comparisons "'Dexter' meets 'This Savage Song.'" Schaeffer goes in deep (pun intended) in her descriptions of dissections, body parts, the human meat market, cutting skin off the body, and meat hunters who enjoy eating their products. It's as if Jeffrey Dahmer has been cloned and is in the body parts smuggling business!

Nita has grown up with dead bodies and learned to take them apart, piece by piece. Her mother marvels at her butchery skills, but then  Mom brings home a live boy that she intends to sell off piece by piece. He was being kept by a collector in Buenos Aires, but her mother grabbed him and begins posting his body parts for sale online. Nita is fine with chopping up dead bodies, but she cannot bring herself to cut off the boy's ears or toes, so she sets him free, giving him  a bus ticket and her phone.

Nita knows her mother will be furious. That boy was worth close to $1 million, and her mother doesn't like to lose money. Even worse, her mother's punishments are legendary. Nita is taken away and loses consciousness. She wakes up in a high tech cage beside another prisoner who tells her they are for sale in the worst meat market in the world. Nita always knew her mother could  be cruel, but she had no idea the depths of her evil. Her mother sold her for profit. Nita is an unnatural herself and her parts are worth far more than the boy she set free.

In a world where humans traffic in fresh body parts of unnatural species, kill or be killed is the new norm. Not Even Bones begins the story with Nita fighting for her freedom. When she escapes her cage, she is sure she's beat death, but the surprise twist at the end blows up the entire book setting the stage for book two. Kudos to Rebecca Schaeffer for the BAM! surprise twist that will leave teen readers reeling.

Recommended grade 9 and up. For readers who enjoy gore and blood and are not bothered by grisly details like livers, hearts, cutting off digits or skinning live subjects.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Proverbs for Young People
Written and Illustrated by Jack E. Levin
Aladdin
2015
72 pages
ISSD: 9781481459457

According to New York Times bestselling author Jack E. Levin, he  had written the first few pages of Proverbs for Young People way back in 1959 and then forgot all about it. Now 90, Levin came across the pages and finished this charming book, "...as my little gift to our youngest generation...." Young children will want to ask parents and caregivers to offer  examples for each saying. Once they make the connection, the children will likely practice the attitude.

Our world will be a better place indeed if everyone practiced, "Kindness brings kindness" and "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." Every faith, creed and country can agree on basic morals and values. As humans we want to be happy, to do well and have our children thrive. It is a universal human need. Children who grow up with values and morals will be better adults who make ethical decisions.

The book is aimed at the preschool reader but this is a valuable teaching tool for pre-K and kindergarten age students. Drawings by the author enhance each proverb and each proverb's meaning is addressed in the last pages of the book.

Lesser known inclusions are "From little acorns, large trees grow," "Empty barrels make the most noise," and "Little strokes fell great oaks."

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Dystopian Pick: Unwholly

Unwholly
by Neal Shusterman
Simon & Schuster
2012
402 pages

Disturbing, chilling, dark, and sickly dystopian, Unwholly is a tour de force. This is the second book in the Unwind series, and Shusterman is superb!

Captivating but broken characters carry the plot along. Unwholly is set in the not so distant future where medicine can cure just about anything. Parents who can no longer “parent” turn to a system that can take their errant teen off their hands. The kids get shipped off to a facility where they are unwound, or basically taken apart and sold for parts. One arm here, one eye there, one spinal cord over there. Of course, the parents think they’re doing the right thing—allowing their broken teen to live on in many other people. Imagine, a blind boy getting new eyes, a cripple walking, a car accident victim given another limb. What a great program, the parents think.

Some teens are able to escape and form a resistance movement. Led by the Akron AWOL, or Connor Lassiter, the teens live in the Phoenix desert holed up in an airplane graveyard. Connor is getting nervous. He knows the Juvies, sadist cops who turn in Unwinds, know about the graveyard and know that there are hundreds of kids living there. Why aren’t they making a move, Connor wonders. Why are they leaving us alone, he asks. When he finds out there’s a traitor in his own camp, he realizes that the kids may have to make a run for it.

Risa, Connor’s sometime girlfriend, is captured and becomes the face of Proactive Citizenry—the organization responsible for thousands of teens’ unwindings. Not only that, Proactive Citizenry has a new project on its hands—it’s produced the very first artificially developed human Camus. Camus is a scientific and genetic miracle to behold. He is made from over 100 different Unwinds and was developed to show the public what the future holds. Cam falls in love with Risa but she turns on him; he promises he will never let her go; he will search for her forever.

The camp is compromised and the kids are in for a huge fight. Just when Connor and Lev think it’s over, they see the milk of human kindness. Unwholly sets up nicely for book 3—where some important questions will be answered and the plot will UNWIND (pun definitely intended).

Shusterman belongs in the ranks of sci-fi giants George Orwell and Ray Bradbury. Unwholly is wholly great! I raced through this book, and teens will, too. Don’t pick this one up unless you’re ready to stay up until the wee hours.

Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up. No sex. One g-word.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for my library. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

YA Pick: Revived

Revived
by Cat Patrick
Hachette Book Group
2012
336 pages

Daisy remembers very little of the crash…one minute she was on the bus with her classmates; the next minute she is living a new life. Twenty-two of the children died but were “revived” through secret technology and a program designed to keep them safe and study them. Every time Daisy “dies,” she and her “parents” have to find a new city to live in with new identities. If they stay, they compromise the program. Too many people asking too many questions would blow the cover of one of the most outrageous medical and ethical scandals.

Daisy’s real parents are told that their daughter died. Her new parents are actual handlers in the program and unrelated to Daisy. She likes Mason who has a kind heart and seems to genuinely care about her; she is less thrilled about mother Cassie who is cold and distant.

The overseer of the program is known only as God –the all-powerful and all-seeing. He determines the fate of all his subjects and their handlers. When someone gets out of line, God decides if they will be “revived.” No one has ever met him in person; they obey his commands on the phone.

When Daisy moves to Omaha, she makes friends with siblings Audrey and Matt. For the first time she finally has friends and she wants to put down roots and never have to move away again. Life is never perfect, and it’s not long before she finds out her new friend Audrey is dying of cancer; if only Daisy could use the revive medicine to save her. Daisy decides to risk it all to help save her friend’s life.

Can Daisy trust her secret with her new friends? What will happen to the program if the public finds out about it? What will happen to Daisy?
Revived is an interesting ya novel and will resonate with teens who loved The Adoration of Jenna Fox and Genesis Alpha. Readers may want to know the character of Audrey a bit better; she is barely introduced before she is sick. The relationship between Matt and Daisy is sweet and tender; Matt needs a shoulder when his sister is sick.

Recommended grades 7-up. No language. No sex.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Genesis Alpha

Genesis Alpha

by Rune Micheals
Ginee Seo Books, 2007

208 pages

Science, medicine, ethical questions, and the age-old struggle of good vs. evil collide in the debut novel by Rune Michaels. Josh worships his older brother Max. He emulates his clothing, his taste in music, reading, and their favorite on-line role-playing game, Genesis Alpha. When Max is accused of murder, Josh knows the police are wrong. As the evidence mounts, Josh uncovers a secret that will change everything. Josh was born so doctors could use his stem cells to save his older brother's life. Josh begins to question -if he was never born, then Max would have died and there would have been no murder.

This page-turner will have readers engrossed and captivated. A quick read at 208 pages, this is a must read for all teens. You will have trouble putting this book down! Genesis Alpha is a great read for a teen book club or a reading class, as discussions over medicine and ethics are sure to provoke teens to think about issues of what is right and wrong and what happens if medicine goes too far. Recommended for YA collections; grade 7-high school.