The Declaration

Malley, Gemma. The Declaration. New York: Bloomsbury, 2007.

Annotation: In a world where people chose Longetivity medication to make them live forever new life is illegal, The Declaration bounds people to not having children, those born are Surplus bred to serve Legals. Anna and new Surplus, Peter, decide to escape to the pro-children Underground Movement.

Book Talk:

Anna hates her parents for breaking The Declaration, they knew they weren’t supposed to have children and now she is a burden on society learning how to be an efficient servant to the Legals. She is Surplus Anna living amongst other illegal surplus children hoping to be deemed a Valuable Asset, good enough to work for a Legal until death. Anna wants nothing more than to be a Valuable Asset, until Peter, a new Surplus is brought to Grange Halls. Peter claims to know Anna’s parents. He says they love her and have been searching for her since the Catcher took her from them. Ideas like that are unnatural, but Anna can’t help but believe Peter. If they escape Grange Hall together she can be reunited with her parents and live her life in the Underground Movement as Anna Covey rather than an illegal Surplus Anna, but does she dare do it?

Awards:

Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire, 2009

Image credit: http://thebooksmugglers.com

If you liked The Declaration check out the sequel The Resistance!

Watch this video to find out what Gemma Malley thinks about whether or not this can really happen in our the future of our world.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Pearson, Mary. The Adoration of Jenna Fox. New York: Henry Holt, 2008.

Annotation: After waking up from a coma Jenna tries to figure out why her life seems so strange and uncover the secrets of her identity.

Book Talk:

Losing a year of her life Jenna wakes up from a coma after an accident she had at 16. But she has no memory of who she is. Disoriented Jenna watches home videos of her life trying to regain a sense of identity.

“I see Jenna, smiling, laughing, and chattering. And falling. When you are perfect, is there anywhere else to go? I ache for her like she is someone else. She is. I am not the perfect Jenna Fox anymore.”

When Jenna sneaks into a locked closet and gets a cut on her hand, she discovers the awful truth about her amnesia. Something her family has been keeping from her- all for their Adoration of Jenna Fox.

Awards:

California Young Reader Medal nominee, 2010-2011

International Reading Association Young Adult Choice Book, 2010

Heartland Award Honor Award for Excellence in Young Adult Fiction, 2010

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2009

Winner Distinguished Work of Fiction CLCSC, 2009

NYPL Best Books, 2009

Golden Kite Honor Award, 2008

Capitol Choices for Teens, 2009

Image credit: http://www.marypearson.com

Brave New World

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.

Annotation: In the brave new world people are controlled through the World State in an attempt to keep them content.

Book Talk:

People often say that you’ll find your lives path. Well in the World State people’s paths get determined from the time they are embryos. Your life depends on what caste the World State chooses to put your embryo in, forget choosing a career you were bred to fit into a certain type of work by making each caste slightly less intelligent. After traveling to the Savage Reservation Lenina and Bernard bring back John who doesn’t understand this world without emotions or relationships. Life is easier when someone else controls it and taking a dose of soma makes it possible to not feel. Would you pop a soma pill to avoid feeling or throw out the Soma and rebel? Find out what happens in this Brave New World.

Awards:

American Academy of Arts and Letters Award of Merit, 1959

ALA Notable Books

Image credit: http://nytimesbooks.blogspot.com