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Summary
Summary
Three teens fight for their lives and each other in this breathtakingly suspenseful first book in the twisted, New York Times bestselling Unwind Dystology series by Neal Shusterman.
After America's Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to an agreement. According to their Bill of Life, human life may not be terminated from the moment of conception until the age of thirteen. But between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, the child may be gotten rid of by their parent through a process called "unwinding."
By repurposing a teen's organs and other body parts in living recipients, the unwound child's life doesn't technically end. According to society's leaders, unwinding leads to a healthier and safer community, as troublesome and unwanted teens are used for the greater good.
Conner is a rebel whose unwinding was ordered by his parents. Rita, a ward of the state, has been slated for unwinding due to cost cutting. And Lev, his parents' tenth child, has been destined for unwinding since birth as a religious tithe. As their paths intersect, they start to fight for their own destinies. But do they stand a chance of escaping their fate or proving their lives are worth saving?
Author Notes
Neal Shusterman was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 12, 1962. He received degrees in psychology and drama from the University of California, Irvine. Within a year of graduating, he had his first book deal and a screenwriting job. He has written numerous books including The Dark Side of Nowhere, Red Rider's Hood, The Shadow Club, The Shadow Club Rising, The Eyes of Kid Midas, Shattered Sky, Unwind, and Antsy Does Time. He won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2015 for Challenger Deep. He also writes several series including the Skinjacker Trilogy, the Star Shards Chronicles, and the Unwind Dystology. As a screen and television writer, he has written for the Goosebumps and Animorphs television series, and wrote the Disney Channel Original Movie Pixel Perfect.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (7)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Shusterman (Everlost) explores one of the most divisive of topics-abortion-in this gripping, brilliantly imagined futuristic thriller. After a civil war waged over abortion has almost destroyed America, completely new laws are in effect. Human life can never be "terminated," but between the ages of 13 and 18, a child can be "unwound" by his parents, an irrevocable decision that leads to every single bit of his body being harvested for medical use. As the novel opens, 16-year-old Connor has secretly discovered his parents' copy of his unwind order, and decides to "kick-AWOL," or run away. Connor's escape inadvertently sweeps up two other Unwinds: a ward of the state who is not quite talented enough to merit her place in a state home any longer, and the 10th son of religious parents, who gave birth to him just to "tithe" him. Beyond his pulse-pounding pace, the cliffhangers and the bombshells, Shusterman has a gift for extrapolating the effects of alien circumstances on ordinary people and everyday behavior. He brings in folklore, medical practices, and slang that reflect the impact of unwinding, creating a dense and believable backdrop. Characters undergo profound changes in a plot that never stops surprising readers. The issues raised could not be more provocative-the sanctity of life, the meaning of being human-while the delivery could hardly be more engrossing or better aimed to teens. Ages 13-up. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(High School) A near-future America allows for unwanted teenagers to be "unwound," or retroactively aborted, their body parts used for transplants, as part of the compromise that ended the Second Civil War (between Pro-life and Pro-choice armies). Life is sacred from the moment of conception until age thirteen, at which time one's legal guardian holds the ultimate power. Three teens marked for unwinding narrowly escape this fate and search for a safe haven amid betrayal, political intrigue, and harrowing, nonstop flights and fights. Connor is condemned by his parents for poor anger management and general unruliness. Risa, a ward of the state, is a play-by-the-rules pianist who isn't quite talented enough. And Lev is a tithe, part of a religious family who raised him to be a willing sacrifice to the cause. It is to Shusterman's credit that he manages to create and balance three separate and compelling journeys of self-discovery for his strongly individualized characters: Connor from petty rebel to thoughtful, inspiring leader; Risa from dutiful follower to principled protester; and Lev -- in a chilling secondary plotline -- from blindly contented sheep to suicide bomber targeting an unwinding center. Though the political foundations of this dystopic future are never quite convincing, the substantial array of issues is precisely, provocatively conveyed, offering plenty for readers to contemplate in this nail-biting, character-driven thriller. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Following in the footsteps of Jonathan Swift, Shusterman uncorks a Modest Proposal of his own to solve a Pro-Life/Pro-Choice dilemma. Set in a future in which abortions are outlawed but parents have the option of signing over their 13- to 17-year-olds to be used as organ donors, the tale focuses on 16-year-old Connor, who falls in with other prospective Unwinds and finds a temporary refuge (thanks to a clandestine organization with its own peculiar agenda) before being captured and sent to Happy Jack Harvest Camp. Though laced with intrigue, betrayals, and narrow squeaks, the story is propelled less by the plot (which is largely a series of long set pieces) than by an ingeniously developed cast and premise. But even readers who gravitate more to plot-driven fiction will find this present-tense page-turner thrilling, though it's guaranteed to leave some feeling decidedly queasy despite the (improbable) happy ending.--Peters, John Copyright 2007 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
AFTER the 2004 presidential election, an amusing graphic made its way around the Internet It took the red state/blue state divide to the extreme, showing two new nations on the North American continent. Canada and most of the coastal states became the United States of Canada The heartland became Jesusland. Neal Shusterman's novel "Unwind" explores the aftermath of just such a division. In an undated future, far enough away for iPods to be sold at antique stores, the Heartland War has devastated the United States. To negotiate a peace between the Life Army and the Choice Brigade, the federal government has outlawed abortion but instituted the practice of "unwinding," or retroactive pregnancy termination. Before the age of 18, any teenager, at the discretion of a parent or guardian, can be killed and disassembled, with his or her organs going to the sick and injured. It might seem that killing a child would be as reprehensible to anti-abortion activists as abortion itself - but Shusterman draws a clever parallel to the fact that many of them support the death penalty. He's hard on the other side, too, comparing doctors' acceptance of "unwound" organs to harvesting stem cells for profit. Midway through the book, the Admiral, a haggard figure who shelters runaways marked for unwinding, explains: "On one side, people were murdering abortion doctors to protect the right to life, while on the other side people were getting pregnant just to sell their fetal tissue." Connor, a hotheaded teen whose parents are fed up with his delinquent behavior, is one of the condemned. While in transit to a "harvest camp" (a happy death camp, complete with live music), he escapes, outwits the "juvey cops" and runs into Risa and Lev. Risa has been consigned to unwinding because, at an orphanage, her piano skills were judged inadequate. Lev is the book's most fascinating character - a "tithe," the 10th child of a rich, religious family who is voluntarily offering himself for unwinding to support humanity through God's will. As Connor, Risa and Lev go on the lam, Shusterman's plot twists and prose hit the mark about half the time. For every sharp observation ("the first sign of civilization is always trash"), there is a passage where a character explains his or her emotional state to an impatient reader. What keeps "Unwind" moving are the creative and shocking details of Shusterman's kid-mining dystopia First, there are the Orwellian linguistic tricks. People who have been unwound are not "dead" - they are "in a divided state." Then there are the rules and rituals. Before being unwound, Lev is honored with a lavish "tithing party," which bears a strong resemblance to a bar mitzvah. The most terrifying scene is devoted to the unwinding itself. The author's decision to describe the process is a questionable one - a book's great unknown can leave the strongest impression on a reader - but he executes as precisely as the surgeons who perform the unwinding. Ultimately, though, the power of the novel lies in what it doesn't do: come down explicitly on one side or the other. After all, there are benefits to unwinding - children with fatal diseases can be saved by perfect transplants. And if the people of Jesusland can come to understand their countrymen in the United States of Canada - or vice versa - aren't we all better off? Ned Vizzini is the author of the young adult novels "It's Kind of a Funny Story" and "Be More Chill."
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-Set in the future, the second civil war is fought over abortion. To end the war, a compromise is reached that ends the practice of abortion but creates an alternative called "unwinding." Between the ages of 13 and 17, parents or guardians can choose to have their children unwound, which involves having every part of their bodies harvested to be "donated" to another person so, technically, they don't really die. The complex and compelling plot follows three teens whose stories intertwine when they escape while on their way to the harvest camps. Fifteen-year-old Connor's parents can no longer control him. Lev, a tithe, was raised by religious parents for the sole purpose of being unwound. Risa, a ward of the state, is a victim of shrinking budgets since she is not a talented enough musician to be kept alive. Neal Shusterman's engrossing novel (S & S, 2007) is narrated in an even cadence and matter-of-fact tone that suits the author's straightforward narrative style. His wide array of voices makes the involved story line, which is left wide open for what is sure to be an interesting sequel, easy to follow. This gripping, thought-provoking novel is guaranteed to lead to interesting discussions about abortion, adoption, organ donation, religion, politics, and health care.-Karen T. Bilton, Mary Jacobs Memorial Library, Rocky Hill, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Shusterman's Everlost (2006) dealt with death and children with a sense of innocence, redemption and even humor. None of that is present here. In a time not far distant, life is deemed to be sacrosanct from the instant of conception until the age of 13. From 13 to 18, however, parents and guardians have the opportunity to have children "unwound." Technically, life doesn't end, but every part of the child is "harvested" to be parceled out and passed on to the highest bidder. In this gruesome age of organ harvest, readers meet Connor (doomed to be unwound by his parents), Risa (doomed as a ward of the state due to overcrowding) and Lev, a tithe, conceived for the express purpose of being unwound and "donated" to society. Their story of escape and struggle to survive in a society that lauds itself on the protection of life, but which has reduced human body parts to market commodities, unrolls against a bleak background of indifference, avarice, guilt, regret, loss, pain and rebellion. Well-written, this draws the reader into a world that is both familiar and strangely foreign, and generates feelings of horror, disturbance, disgust and fear. As with classics such as 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, one can only hope that this vision of the future never becomes reality. (Science fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
In the not-so-distant future, everyone has an absolute right to life--unless your parents decide on the do-over option. Between your 13th and 18th birthdays, they can have you "unwound," your pieces and parts extracted and recycled for the donor market. Why It Is Great: The unwound are kept alive until the very end of the harvesting process. A single scene made this book one of the scariest reads published for teens last year. Why It Is for Us: Shusterman's exploration of good intentions gone very, very bad will resonate with adult readers frustrated by the prochoice/prolife debate. The premise falls down in a few, significant places, but the book will still reward fans of dystopian sf. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.