EMERGENCY AWESOME BOOK ALERT *alarm goes off*

Over the weekend I read THE BEST BOOK (or one of many BEST BOOKS) and I really didn't have time to mention it on here until now. Sorry. Been busy auditioning for Jeopardy and preparing to swim 100 fly and taking Driver's Ed among other things such as sleeping and eating.

It's called Unwind by Neal Shusterman and it's possibly the best book I've read so far this year. IT'S CRAZY GOOD!

It's not the shortest book in the world but I just couldn't put it down. Really. I was reading through Amazing Race (which I LOVE) and through meals. Kind of scary!

The story follows three teenagers: Connor, Risa, and Lev, who are all growing up where teens can be "unwound", or taken apart to use as transplants. So they're still technically alive, just all their parts are on different bodies. Scary thought, right? There are many different reasons to be unwound: Connor's parents just decided to sign the form, selling him to the government, possibly because of his temper, Risa was an orphan and the state home she lived at needed room, and Lev was a tithe, meaning his parents, being good Christians, have to give one tenth of everything to the church. Ten kids... you get the picture. Lev ends up growing up brainwashed to think it's a good thing to be tithed, it makes you special in God's eyes.

These three kids escape on the way to the "harvest camp" and try to change the world they live in by staying alive. They even find an underground network dedicated to keeping "unwinds" alive and out of government hands.

This book was like Scott Westerfield's Uglies and Lois Lowry's The Giver combined. It's this insanely trippy, backwards society they live in that allows it to be acceptable for teenagers to be killed for others' profit. And as a teen reading this, it's even scarier. What would happen if we actually lived in this world? Would YOU be unwound? (Knowing my luck, it would be me.)

And let me tell you, the ending made me CRY. Not just get a little teary or sentimental, but CRY. That doesn't happen often. These were Deathly Hallows/APOCALYPSE tears. Well it wasn't really the end, but it was this really horrible scene near the end and it was HEARTBREAKING. Just a warning. No major plot spoilers here, though.

The other awesome book we just finished in class: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. I know I should have read this long ago, seeing as it's a classic and all.

But we started it in class before I had the chance. Only an amazing teacher like Mr. H. could make me love John Steinbeck like I do now; I didn't like him much last year, trying to read The Pearl. But this book was SO GOOD. The language and the emotion is really strong, it's amazing how much feeling this guy can pack into such simple words. And you can definitely see a pattern in how he writes...

Okay, enough with the literary analysis, even though it is fascinating. Most people know the story of George and Lenny, showing up on a ranch to work for some money so they can reach their American dream of having a farm and a cage full of rabbits for poor mentally disabled Lenny.

Only some people remember the ending, though. Another tearjerker of an ending (again, not ruining anything, although it is a short book, a novella) but what got me was the last line. Seriously. If you don't remember it, go back and read it. There I was, sitting there, despondent over this horrifically tragic ending, and the last line KILLED IT. It totally fit into the whole Steinbeck/simplicity thing, but that's not the point. I WANTED TO THROW THAT BOOK AT THE WALL.

UGH.









Okay. Over my book anger. Last lines like that TICK ME OFF.

I mean, I understand the ending really wouldn't have worked any other way, it wouldn't have sounded right for how Steinbeck wrote the book, but still.

UGH.