Feed by Mira Grant

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Summary: In a future under constant threat from zombies, a blogger journalist and her brother follow a presidential candidate.

I read MT Anderson's Feed instead when I skimmed over my online book's club selection. Oops! When I realized my mistake, I checked the information again. Is this a zombie book? Yes, it is a zombie book, but it's also so much more.

Set in the future (2039), this is ultimately a book about journalism, but with zombies. Georgia Mason and her brother Shaun are the lead bloggers of their site. Shaun is an Irwin, obviously named after Steve Irwin, who died on camera during an adventure. Shaun is reckless, charming and absolutely good at his job. Georgia is a Newsie, one who insists on the truth no matter how much it hurts. I know I'm a blogger myself (you're reading this, right?) but in light of the furor over the news that Aveda will no longer pay bloggers for reviews, I'm naturally skeptical of the journalistic integrity of bloggers. Georgia's fierceness about always telling the truth seems a way to redeem the current blogging environment, which is rife with rumors. Georgia's defensiveness is justified, given the blogosphere in 2011.

But in 2014, a cure for the common cold, when it meets the cure for cancer, turns people into zombies who feed on living flesh.

"No one gets cancer or colds anymore. The only issue is the walking dead."

The United States government has ceded control of Alaska to the walking dead and the book opens with Georgia and Shaun zombie hunting in Santa Cruz, California. The sly humor kept me reading, even though I'm not a horror fan.

Georgia, Shaun, and their partner Buffy are the only bloggers chosen to be part of the presidential press corps following Senator Ryman. He gives them almost complete access and their blog site is gaining popularity. Ratings soar when Georgia and Shaun fight off a zombie attack at one of the Seantor's campaign rallies. Buffy, their technical expert, actually uncovers information that suggests the zombie attack was actually an assassination attempt.

The conspiracy runs deeper and deeper, with tragedy striking in surprising ways. I was racing to finish this, wondering exactly who was behind it all. The book dragged in the middle and there were a few plots holes. But on the whole, I loved this book, despite the zombie theme. I almost wish I was more of a a zombie movie fan, because I'm sure there are references I missed. I'm definitely reading the next book in the series.

Matched by Ally Condie

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Summary: Cassie is assigned to marry her best friend, but suddenly imagines her life with someone else. 

I love dystopian fiction. I love young adult novels. I love strong female characters. This book had all of it, but I didn't love this book. It was only okay.

Cassie is excited to learn that her government-approved Match is none other than her best friend Xander. But when Cassie takes the data box home, she sees another boy's face inside - that of Ky Markham, also a school friend from her neighborhood.

Cassie's life is so carefully monitored that she is relieved when an Official comes to talk to her about the mix-up with her Matching box. Then Cassie and Ky are assigned to exercise together, and they start a romance. Cassie is torn between the expected duty of marrying Xander, her dear friend, and the excitement of kissing Ky, the man she actually got to choose.

Then we come to find out that Cassie was deliberately thrown together with Ky as a test. Could she follow the rules or was she dangerous to Society?

The Society was reminiscent of 1984, with bits of The Declaration and some of Gattaca. Every action in life is governed, with sleep tags, exercise tags, meals carefully monitored to provide optimum nutrition for people. The Society had Officials choose the 100 Paintings, 100 Songs, 100 Poems worth saving, since too many choices made people upset. People are also assigned to die at age eighty, since that was determined to be the optimum age.

I was disappointed in this book, likely because so many people recommended it so highly. This is definitely a typical Young Adult novel, but it spent too much time on explanations and took too long to get to the plot. That Cassie and Ky's love was engineered by Officials was also predictable. To be fair, there were some interesting questions in here: If you're allowed to choose who you love, can you ever have love in an arranged marriage? Or maybe scientists do have a point when they make Matches for optimum health and smooth running of Society.  I would and could discuss the Society with others since it does present some interesting moral and health issues. The author deliberately left the ending open for a sequel, so I expect others will read this series as well, but I'm done.

The Passage by Justin Cronin

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Summary: An apocalyptic vision of the future after a government plan to manufacture vampires goes terribly wrong. 

The Passage was unlike any book I've ever read before, yet it reminded me of many books I've read before. And I almost didn't make it past page 30.

The book opens with a depressing story of a single mother who loses her home to poverty and turns to prostitution to feed herself and her daughter Amy, set in 2016. Mood-wise, the writing reminded me of Robert Goolrick's A Reliable Wife, since it was a casual stream of consciousness writing with tender terrible moments just tossed in. The sadness was so disturbing I almost didn't keep reading, especially when six-year-old Amy is abandoned at a convent without a goodbye from her mother.

Then a new section opens with one-sided e-mails from a scientist working in the jungles of Bolivia. This seem ripped from Michael Crichton's Congo. Lots of mystery, strange noises and disappearances and the natives won't go any further, but the crew, which now is taken over by the U.S. Army, continues on to the jungle despite all their instincts. I despise epistolary books, and I resented that the vague e-mail hints are supposed to keep us readers intrigued. I was determined to give this book my mandatory 50 pages.

And then before the 50 pages were up, we meet Special Agent Brad Wolgast. Since I do love law enforcement characters, I kept reading about the tired, resigned, lonely man who is searching for a cause to make his life meaningful again. Unfortunately, Agent Wolgast is assigned to ask death row inmates with no family to sign up for a secret government medical experiment.

Can you guess the experiment? Vampires!

Yes, somehow the government has been injecting death row inmates (who are murderers and rapists) with a serum that makes them age slowly, lose their minds and humanity, and crave human blood.  The scientist who wrote those earlier e-mails has figured out a way to inject people with the same blood that caused a massacre in the Bolivian jungle.

And Agent Wolgast has to bring six-year-old Amy (who also now has no family) to a hidden medical lab in the mountains of Colorado for a treatment that has affected grown men in disturbing ways. During a bloody shoot-out, Amy and Special Agent Wolgast escape and hide in the mountains of Montana as the now-free and enraged vampires savage the rest of the United States.  The sparseness will remind readers of Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

In yet another section, we have diary entries from a child who describes the isolation trains and the process of quarantining cities. She also notes that California has seceded from the United States.  This part of the book seemed very Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower.

And all of this plot takes up only a third of the book.

The rest of the book focuses on a community of settlers who live in isolation in California, fending off daily attacks by the now dominant vampires, nearly 100 years after the vampires first escape. They have only known the strict and insular life inside the fort. But the batteries that power the lights and their community are dying and they must journey to find either a rumored colony of other survivors or unused batteries. It's better to die in the attempt to prolong life than stay waiting. Their journey is more about the mental challenges than physical dangers though there are both. And you make it through a 766-page hard cover book only to have an enraging, frustrating ending.

I recognize that Justin Cronin is not a new author, however, this book felt like a creative writing class assignment. Okay, Class. The topic is vampires. Now write a book written from the perspective of these 4 random authors you pick from my bag. The plot had a few holes, and the writing needed a strong editor and a distinctive style. But this indeed was one of the most unique books I've read.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

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Summary: Teenagers about to be unwound – harvested for their organs – go on the run.

The Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen.

However, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, a parent may choose to retroactively “abort” a child…

on the condition that the child’s life doesn’t “ technically” end.

The process by which a child is both terminated and yet kept alive is called “unwinding.”

Unwinding is now a common and accepted practice in society.

And with that chilling statement, this novel opens. It's a thriller, as three Unwinds are on the run, but also both subtle and obvious social commentary with menace from all corners.

Connor's parents can no longer control him when he acts out, so his parents decide to have him unwound, so at least some good can come from their son. Orphaned Risa is a victim of shrinking budgets since she is not a talented enough musician to be kept alive. Lev, a tithe, was raised by religious parents for the sole purpose of being unwound. Why would he fight or run from the very action he was created for? His relationship with Pastor Dan comforts him, until an accident changes the path set for these young Unwinds. The bus carrying Connor and Risa, a ward of the state, crashes into Lev's parents' car, and Lev is taken hostage by Connor.  During a police shoot-out, Pastor Dan yells at Lev to run, and it isn't until Lev is alone in the woods does he realize Pastor Dan doesn't want him to be unwound.

The three travel together and join an underground rescue organization, but are separated. Risa and Connor join a hidden group of teens, who are just waiting to grow old enough to be safe from unwinding. Lev partners with a young teen who is driven by an urge to visit the parents of the child who provided parts for him. Cellular memory is fascinating to me, as is the ethics of organ donation.

Please note: Nobody ever says "die" they always say "unwound." The scene of one character's unwinding is horrifying and spell-binding. Solid writing.

There’s a funny line about whether or not you’re allowed to sell your soul on eBay. If the soul does not exits, then it can’t be sold. If it does exist, then it’s a body part and eBay does not allow the selling of body parts.

This is listed as a Young Adult novel, but I think the subject matter is more appropriate for adults. Fascinating, dark, enjoyable.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

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Summary: Dystopian YA novel about the power of being Ugly and the danger of being Pretty. 

Remember that old Twilight Zone episode where the beautiful woman wants to look like everyone else? Remember that TV show The Swan?  In New Pretty Town, everybody looks like themselves, only better, but they also look like everyone else.

Pretty people have it easy. They don’t have to worry about anything.
That’s why it’s mandatory for all citizens of New Pretty Town to have the operation at age 16. Until the operation, all people are ugly. Therefore, their brains and personalities must be ugly too.

In this YA dystopian novel, the Rusties’ civilization was destroyed years ago when someone created a bacteria that infected oil. Since nearly everything ran on petroleum, the Rusties were completely unable to function. A few smart scientists created an operation to make people Pretty at age 16. Once people are Pretty, they lose the urge to fight, to take revenge, to steal, to plunder, to treat the Earth poorly. The Rusties' behavior was Ugly and so were their faces.

Tally is only a few months away from her pretty operation and she’s lonely for her friend Peris who’s already been made Pretty. During a secret visit to Peris in New Pretty Town, Ugly Tally is a little worried that Peris is not as much fun as he used to be. Peris doesn’t worry about the same things they used to when they were both Uglies. That’s because being Pretty is fun. So Peris tells Tally just to behave and wait for her operation so they can be Pretty friends together.

But Tally is still playing tricks, waiting until her operation. Lonely, she meets Shay, who's also waiting for her operation. Shay is not nearly as excited to have her operation, and Tally is bewildered by her friend's behavior. Why would anyone not want to be Pretty?

"Maybe just being Ugly is why Uglies always fight and pick on one another, because they aren't happy with who they are. Well, I want to be happy and looking like a real person is the first step."

On the day of Shay's operation, Shay runs away to join the Smokies, a post-industrial band of Uglies who have no interest in civilization. They even cut down trees for fire. Tally misses Shay, but just prepares for her operation. Then Dr. Cable, the head of Special Circumstances, gives Tally an ultimatum. If Tally ever wants to be Pretty, Tally must find Shay and the Smokies and reveal their hideout to Special Circumstances. Then Special Circumstances will make everybody Pretty.

"As the details of the operation buzzed around in her head, she could imagine why Shay had run away. It did seem like a lot to go through just to look a certain way. If only people were smarter, evolved enough to treat everyone the same even if they looked different. Looked Ugly."

Tally desperately wants to be Pretty and of course believes that the world will be better, and more peaceful, if everyone is Pretty. She embarks on a long journey to find the Smokies. When Tally finally encounters the Smokies, she is astonished to see that Uglies can live together in harmony. What if her teachers weren't right about Uglies being bad? And when Tally finds out about what really happens to your brain during the operation, she begins to question everything she thought she knew.

This YA novel really is for young adults. The focus on people being so beautiful that others can't speak or think deep thoughts around them is funny, but I remember being speechless while working with a gorgeous man. It also seems to subtly hint that you need to see past people's looks to discover their personality and strength. This is a series written with a cliffhanger at every book ending. Uglies, the first book, is the best. The writing is uncomplicated, with a little too much repetitive detail for me, but a nice message and an easy fun read. This would be a great tween dystopian novel too.

Feed by M.T. Anderson

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Summary: Teens have angst in the future. 

Imagine reading a blog by a 14-year old boy in the future. I was so bored.

“Marty was getting angry that everyone was like turding on his recommendation, and I just wanted them all to shut up somehow, I mean nicely, because suddenly I realized we didn’t really sound too smart. If someone overheard us, like that girl, they might think we were dumb.”

“We wanted to go to sleep by then, but we were on the moon, even if it sucked, and it was spring break, you know, with the action, so there was no way we were admitting we wanted to go to sleep.”

“It was meg big big loud. There was everything there.

There was about a million people it seemed, and light, and the beat was rocking the moon. There was a band hung by their arms and their legs from the ceiling, and there was girders and floating units going up and down, and the meg youch latex ripplechicks dancing on the bar, and there were all these frat guys that were wearing these, unit they were fuckin’ brag, they were wearing these tachyon shorts so you couldn’t barely look at them, which were $789.99 according to the feed, and they were on sale for like $699 at the Zone, and could be shipped to the hotel for an additional $78.95, and that was just one great thing that people were wearing.”

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

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Summary: A teenage hacker mobilizes fellow teens after another terrorist attack.

I don’t like hackers. They seem obnoxious and troublesome, breaking into files just because they can. So a novel featuring teenage hackers, who are likely breaking the law, didn’t appeal to me. But I kept reading that Cory Doctorow’s novel Little Brother was one of the best pieces of Young Adult Fiction.

They - whoever they are - were right.

I started reading this book, not expecting to like it and ended up ignoring my kids so I could finish it. It was entertaining, suspenseful and thought-provoking.

Little Brother is set in the near future in San Francisco. Marcus and his friends sneak out of school one day to play an online treasure-hunting game – Harajuku Fun Madness.  Marcus is a snotty punk, who likes feeling smarter than and superior to the adults around him.

“The Man was always coming down on me, just because I go through school firewalls like wet Kleenex, spoof the gait-recognition software, and nuke the snitch chips they track us with.”

While Marcus and his friends are on the streets of San Francisco, a terrorist attack occurs. Terrorists have bombed the Bay Bridge, cutting off the mainland from the rest of the city. Mass panic. Their friend Darryl is stabbed in the back in the chaos after the bombing and when the friends flag down a police car for help, they are instead thrown into a van, taken off American soil and wake up in a cell, alone.

Homeland Security, yes, the Department of Homeland Security of the United States of America, suspects that these high school kids are terrorists because they were close to the bomb at the time of the attack and not where they were supposed to be. Marcus is psychologically tormented, isolated, deprived and humiliated – everything but physically tortured.

“I’d broken a lot of rules all my life and I’d gotten away with it, by and large. Maybe this was justice. Maybe this was my past coming back to me. After all, I had been where I was because I’d snuck out of school.”

Marcus is finally released after he tells the passwords and codes to every piece of technology he has on him. His cell phone, his computer at home, anything you can think of, he provides information about, terrified into spilling his guts. Marcus is released with the threat that DHS will be watching him.

My biggest complaint about many of the YA novels out there is “Where are the parents?!” It seems like kids get into trouble and hide werewolves and vampires in their rooms while the parents obliviously go along. But Marcus’s parents are real characters with real viewpoints.

When Marcus stumbles home, his parents cry with relief that he’s alive. He’s too terrified about his recent brush with Homeland Security to even tell his parents the truth. He doesn’t even know if his friends made it out as well; he’s just so happy to be home and safe.

“Believe it or not, my parents made me go to school the next day. I’d only fallen into feverish sleep at three in the morning, but at seven the next day, my dad was standing at the foot of my bed, threatening to drag me out by the ankles. I managed to get up – something had died in my mouth after painting my eyelids shut – and into the shower.”

At school the next day, Darryl is still missing. Everyone else in the group is home safely except Marcus’ best friend Darryl. Marcus starts asking questions because he owes it to Darryl to get him home. Thugs from Homeland Security confront him on his way home, ordering him to shut up if he knows what’s good for him. Trembling, Marcus vows to bring down DHS, using technology, the power of the internet and a very real distrust of the government.

The humor of this book must be my kind of humor, because I grew to like Marcus’ views on many things, even as I agree (agreed?) with his dad about privacy and security concerns.

‘ “The Bill of Rights was written before data-mining," he said. He was awesomely serene, convinced of his rightness. “The right of freedom of association is fine, but why shouldn’t the cops be allowed to mine your social network to figure out if you’re hanging with gangbangers and terrorists?”

“Because it’s an invasion of my privacy!” I said.

“What’s the big deal? Would you rather have privacy or terrorists?” ‘

It leads to some great discussions the unlimited powers that government holds.

 “It’s unbelievable today, but there was a time when the government classed crypto as a munitions and made it illegal for anyone to export it or use it on national security grounds. Get that. We used to have illegal math in this country.”

I won’t tell you how it ends, but never underestimate the far reaching powers of Homeland Security. Almost anything can be done under the excuse of national security and that is frightening.

So yes, this book is about a teenage hacker who fights the government, but it’s so much more. It’s about cryptology, history, mathematics, writing computer programming code, social revolution, “fighting The Man,”  freedom and of course, teen angst. I’m so glad I read this.

Birthmarked by Caragh O’Brien

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Summary: After losing her parents, teenage Gaia becomes her neighborhood’s midwife and is embroiled in the politics of birth and adoption.

The first three babies each midwife delivers every month are “advanced” to the Enclave, a walled inner city where the best and brightest have been living (and marrying) for years.

As a brand-new midwife, Gaia is only following the policies she’s lived under for years. But after she returns home from her first delivery, and her first advancement, she returns home to find that her parents have been arrested.

There’s a crisis in the Enclave. Rampant inbreeding in the years since the Enclave formed has led to hemophilia and death, with mandatory blood tests before anyone can marry.

Gaia’s parents hold a secret, a secret about the babies who have advanced, one that Gaia must uncover if she ever hopes to keep them alive.

"Because she was scarred, she had had no chance of being advanced to the Enclave. In some ways, her case was the supreme example of why it was better to give the babies over within hours. Years ago, they used to leave babies with their mothers for the first year of life, but the mothers were growing increasingly careless, and the children were getting injured or sick before their twelve-month ceremonies. With the current baby quota system, the Enclave recived healthy, whole babies the day they were born, and the mothers could get on with becoming pregnant again, if that’s what they wanted to do.

...

No deformed babies were ever advanced, for any reason. For Gaia, one accident had guaranteed a life of poverty outside the wall, with no education, no chance for good food or leisure or easy friendships, while the girls her age who’d been advanced were now in the enclave, with boundless electricity, food and education. They were wearing beautiful clothes, dreaming of wealthy husbands, laughing and dancing."

Confession time here: I love dystopian fiction. Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games is one of my favorite books.  While Collins' and O'Brien's worlds are completely different, the same sense of dread, menace and ideal pacing make these books among my favorites.

How did the world end up as it it did?

“The cool age ended when the fuel was used up, and it was too late for the masses to adjust, I guess. Crops failed. Some illness. A few wars. They coldn’t move around  what little food they could grow, I guess. It takes a lot to feed people, Gaia. We forget. We’re lucky here. There are smart people running the Enclave, and we don’t do so badly ourselves outside the wall.”

Many hard-working, decent people kept the foundry, glass factory and mills going to produce useful goods. There were things to respect here, lives that weren’t all brutality.

My few minor complaints about the book are spoilers, but you can find them in the comments section.

A complete satisfying read. The author completely left the book open for a sequel but I hope it won’t be like The Forest of Hands and Teeth.