Unwind

Title: Unwind
Author: Neal Shusterman
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Page Count: 335
Why I read it: sounded interesting
Grade: B-

Synopsis:
In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them.
Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.

My review:
Unwind has an interesting, if unbelievable, premise, and was good enough to keep me reading for an entire afternoon until I finished it. There were parts that I could actually see happening. I could see this country coming to another Civil War (or the equivalent) because there is so much hatred on both sides of the two party system. What was not believable was the "Bill of Life", which was what the entire story was based on, that wouldn't have been acceptable by either the pro-life or the pro-choice sides.

But, if you can ignore that, the story is fast-paced with lots of varied characters. It was told from rotating points of view between characters, with third person narration. That way I never got tired of a certain character, which was nice.

I think this would be a great book for a book group, because there are lots of discussion possibilities here. Lots of moral questions raised--it would make for a great discussion.