Flashback Friday: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

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Title: Unwind
Author: Neal Shusterman
Published: 2007

In America after the Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to an agreement: The Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, a parent may choose to retroactively get rid of a child through a process called "unwinding." Unwinding ensures that the child's life doesn’t “technically” end by transplanting all the organs in the child's body to various recipients. Now a common and accepted practice in society, troublesome or unwanted teens are able to easily be unwound.
With breathtaking suspense, this book follows three teens who all become runaway Unwinds: Connor, a rebel whose parents have ordered his unwinding; Risa, a ward of the state who is to be unwound due to cost-cutting; and Lev, his parents' tenth child whose unwinding has been planned since birth as a religious tithing. As their paths intersect and lives hang in the balance, Shusterman examines serious moral issues in a way that will keep readers turning the pages to see if Connor, Risa, and Lev avoid meeting their untimely ends.

My Thoughts

What if you lived in a world where your parents could have you unwinded? Don't know what that means? That means they could basically sell you to science.....while you're alive. This book gave me the creeps and it deserves 5/5 stars for being a well-written masterpiece as well as a cruel reminder that science explored without regard for human life can lead to ghastly consequences. Read this book! It's one of those books that can change the way you look at life.