Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Source: I purchased a copy

Neal Shusterman has long been one of my favorite authors. I first read Unwind in 2017. I gladly put his series on my classroom shelves. Two years ago we had to take all books off and put them away until the district told us which books we could keep on our shelves. They all had to be "reviewed", and not by the teacher. I went from over 3000 books to a little under 700 books. Last year I changed schools. I started collecting books again. Parents signed letters giving their children permission to read whatever they wanted. I began purchasing my favorites once again. The first books I purchased over Christmas break this year was Neal Shusterman's Unwind Series. I reread them this week.

Unwind takes the issue of abortion and turns it on its head. After years of pro-life and pro-choice arguing the issue of abortion war breaks out. It is finally decided that the abortion issue is dead until the age of 13. At that time, with the advancement of technology and medicine children can be "unwound". This mean their body can be chopped up and sold to the highest bidder with all parts being used. There are two nefarious factions at play here. First you have the "tithes". They are children who have been dedicated as a tithe from birth. They are raised and trained that they have a higher purpose and willingly go to be unwound, to live on in the lives of others. The second is those that for whatever reason have not done well in school or society have been given to the government for unwinding; signed over to them by their parents. There is a third group that is lumped in with this second group. If you end up in a state home and are lucky you live there until you are 18. If you aren't lucky and they need more room you will be sent off to be unwound.
Our three main characters are Connor, who found papers his parents had signed to have him unwound. The reason? He was always in fights and had low grades. Then there is Levi, called Lev who is a tithe. Finally we meet Risa who is being unwound because they need more room in the state home she lives in. Connor leaves the night before he is to be unwound. Unfortunately he is caught the next day. He escapes across a highway, sees Lev and takes him as hostage. All of this causes a major accident which also involves the bus that Risa is being transported on. The three of them end up together and so the adventure begins.

We learn a lot about each of their lives, about something called "getting storked" and a group of people who want to destroy these "chop shops" and a group that is trying to help them survive. This is an awesome book. It is followed by 3 other books. I highly recommend the entire series, just like I will to my students when I return after winter break.
 

North Beat Christmas by Jenna Zark

Genre: Middle Grade, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This is Jenna Zark's third book in the "Beat Street" Series, we find Ruby and her brother in California. This year they have convinced their mother to let them spend Christmas with their dad in San Francisco.  Things get off to a rocky start. Their father fails to pick them up from the train station, Ruby's satchel with her money, and most importantly her notebook is stolen. Once they get to their dad's house they find him face down on the floor of his apartment.  For money for food Ray plays the saxophone, his dad plays the bongos dnd Ruby dances in a park. They are part of a community known as the "beats". As Ruby and Ray get off the bus in front of a book store called Inner Pages, Ruby's one desire is to go inside and be immersed in the pages of the greats. She sets that as her goal for the next morning. When she gets there she finds herself with a job and a new friend. Ruth is an older lady who works there.  After lunch they return to the bookstore and find her brother Ray. He has come to get Ruby because he can't get into his dad's bedroom and his dad isn't answering.  This is when Ruby realizes her father has a problem with alcohol.  Ruby meets another young man in the bookstore. His name is Marty. Marty has some issues of his own, but Ruby is the kind of friend who sticks by them no matter what.

This is an awesome book.  Ruby learns a lot of lessons in this book. She grows up quite a bit. we see her mature in ways we hope our young people will eventually mature. We get a glimpse into a time period most of us know nothing about. We see Ruby and her brother deal with issues our young people today must deal with. Most importantly we see what love can accomplish.  What a wonderful book to start off my Christmas break from school.

Student Saturday: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Student Reviewer:  Lexie L.

-300 years in the future, what we call the U.S.A today is now Panem. This story follows a 16-year-old girl named Katness Everdeen in district 12 of 13. However, district 13 was destroyed. Katness faces the struggles of Panem’s oppressive government and extreme poverty that came with it. Her hair is a deep brown, almost always in her signature braids, she has a narrow figure, and piercing gray eyes. She has a sister named Prim and she would protect her with her life, and she has. Katness learned from a young age how to use a bow, though against the law, to hunt food for her family beyond the fence of where the district was divided. This would come in handy later in her life. In this time period the capital of Panem would take one girl and one boy from each district and put them in an arena where they would fight to the death leaving one soul winner. This would happen once a year, every year. When Prim, Katness’s little sister, was old enough to participate in this “game” she was unlucky picked to compete. As soon as this happened Katness raised her hand and shouted at the top of her lungs “I volunteer. I VOLUNTEER AS A TRIBUTE!” She was then taken to the capital with a boy who was picked named Peta Melark. They were interviewed and asked question their entire stay at the capital. When in came to be the day of the games they all were released into the dome with the cornucopia in the center of the arena. Read the book to find out what happens once the games begin.

-I really loved the way the author portrayed the thoughts and feeling of the character using body language as a key factor to understand what a player’s demeanor was. All the intense detail and world building had me on the edge on my seat while reading this incredible story. It truly holds a deeper meaning and comments on our society today. I cried a lot while reading this book. Overall, this is a remarkable story for anyone who likes futuristic timelines, fear, drama, overthrowing oppressive governments, justice, etc.

-I highly recommend this book,