Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Shusterman takes would could be a depressing dystopia and turns it into a tour de force. Unwind, which was first published in 2009, sounds as fresh and relevant today as ever.  

After a civil war, known as the Heartland War, throwaway kids are being unwound. By signing an order, parents can doom their teenagers to a surgery that forcibly removes their organs.

Resisters, Conner, Risa, and Lev, are at the heart of the story. They come from different circumstances, and one is technically a tithe, but they are united by the belief that human life matters. 

Many characters learn this truth too late. Throughout the novel, the kids hear the urban legend about Humprey Dunfee. The story went that the boys' parents regretted the unwind and tried to stop it. The order, however, was carried out.

Connor learns that the legend is not a legend at all. Humprey Dunfee, real name Harlan Dunfee, was an actual person. He is the son of the Admiral who has been attempting to save him and the other Unwinds. 

 

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

This is an absolute stunner in every sense of the word--rich prose, tight plotting, and imaginative twists and turns. 

The Company has manufactured biotech that wreak havoc upon the City. The actions of Mord, a man-made bear-like creature, and his proxies cause the Magician and her pseudo-children to rebel. 

Even before the rebellion, however, the City has been wrecked, leaving many scavengers. Rachel, who lives in the Balcony Cliff with Wick, has learned the art of scavenging. 

Though there is a gap in her memories, Rachel remembers once living on an island. Later, as the waters rose, she became a climate refugee and moved to the City.

Perhaps she sees something of herself in the creature, Borne, who helplessly clings to Mord's flank. She nurtures him yet she doesn't know exactly what he is. 

No one does, not even Borne himself. For a time, he ponders if he is a biotech weapon created by the Company. Wick suggests that they deconstruct him to see what he is but Rachel feels outraged. He is a "person" in her eyes yet he at first seems little more than a plant with eyes. 

Wool by Hugh Howey

In this trenchant debut novel, Hugh Howey describes a highly-stratified, post-apocalyptic society. To escape toxins, human beings have at some point crept into an underground silo of immense size. 

Some live in the up tops, some live in the mids, and some live in the deepest deep, Mechanical. Those at the top rarely know what is happening at the deepest levels. 

Criminals or "cleaners" are forced outside to clean the silo's only window situated at the top of the silo. Dust storms keep this window cloudy. Residents can only see a clear view after a doomed silo resident cleans the window with a steel wool pad.

Something , however, is amiss in this highly mechanized, highly stratified world. Children in nurseries are given children's books but they are told the children's books tell lies. They believe green grass and blue skies are fairy tales.

But what if everything you thought you knew about your society was a lie?

No one knows who built the silo or who erased the servers data about the uprisings. Alison, Sheriff Holston's wife, believes IT is hiding something. Holston never gets to know what his wife learns. She self-destructs and leaves the silo voluntarily.

When a new sheriff is chosen, Juliette, she is quickly ousted by IT and forced to become a cleaner. She expects to die but she discovers something that takes the novel in a whole new direction.

Jules is a wonderful character--strong and smart--whose act of defiance--entering silo 17--makes all the silo 18 residents rethink what they know. 

Wool is one of three exciting novels that form a trilogy. If you like Wool, you may like Paolo Bacigalupi's Ship Breaker, Ernest Cline's Ready Player One, or Andrew Weir's The Martian.