Neal Shusterman's UnWind Dystology is one of my guilty
pleasures. This science fiction series takes place after the Heartland
War, a second civil war fought over reproductive rights. Rather than one
side triumphing, a bargain is struck: abortion is outlawed, replaced
with two options. The first option is to stork a baby; the parents leave
the baby on the doorstep of someone who is then legally obligated to
raise the child as their own. If the parents are caught, however, they
must take the child back. The second option is for the parents to unwind
their 13-to-18-year-old child. Unwinding is possible because of recent
medical advances that allow universal grafting of human parts; in other
words, we become like cars with interchangeable parts. These children,
then, are living in a distributed state. So what
happens when one of the individuals marked to be unwound decides that
they don't want to be? That they don't have to accept that fate? Unwind, UnWholly, and UnSouled
follows Connor, a sixteen-year-old whose parents have signed an Unwind
Order; Risa, a ward of the state who is being unwound due to cuts in the
state budget; and Lev, a 13-year-old boy who has been raised as a
tithe, raised to be unwound. Through the stories of these three
children, as well as characters introduced throughout the books, we see
multiple dimensions of this issue while contemplating the questions of
what it means to be alive, the role of medicine, and the grip of
corporate interest on everyday life. While wrestling with heavy topics,
Shusterman provides a fairly balanced approach to the subject matter;
challenges include accepting that such a world could actually exist.
Highly
recommended for those who enjoy a science fiction bend to their texts
and boy protagonists. An excellent text to talk critically about social
issues with a plot that moves quickly. Approximate appropriateness:
Grade 7 - up.
