Author: Pam Bachorz
Genre: YA, dystopian fiction
Pages: 249
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Challenges: YA (#19), Read-a-Thon (#2), TBR (#10)
FTC Disclosure: I borrowed this book from my school library
Summary (from the inside flap): Teens respect their elders, do their chores, and enjoy homework...because they're controlled by subliminal messages. Oscar Banks, the son of the town's founder, is the model of perfection: class president, top student, shining example. But it's only a disguise. Unlike al the other Candor teens, he knows about the Messages, and he fights them with his own counter-programming. Only Oscar knows how to get kids out of Candor--for a price. Nobody suspects that he smuggles the richest new kids out of town before they change. It's risky: if Oscar were caught, he'd be sent straight to the Listening Room, where the most resistant minds are wiped clean. When Nia moves into town, Oscar is smitten by her tart attitude and ability to see through his perfect-boy front. He can't stand to see her changed by the Messages. Now he must decide to help Nia escape Candor and lose her forever, or keep her close and risk exposure.
Review: What an interesting book. And creepy. To live in a town where everything is "perfect", at least from the outside. Families move to Candor when their children are a problem. Through music that is played all day and all night subliminal messages are given to the children, controlling what they think, believe, and feel. Only Oscar seems to be able to resist it all. But his life isn't easy.
I liked this book, but didn't love it. It was easy to read, but I did find it went on a little too long for me. Perhaps I felt it got a little repetitive. However, the ending was something I totally didn't see coming! This review is short due to the read-a-thon!
3 comments
This book sounds interesting! I guess this is a type of book one will enjoy .. since it appears to be raising questions of how much an external force has the right to control people. Like the Uglies series and The Host.
Good review. This one is on my TBR list. The premise reminds me of this movie, Disturbing Behavior, where parents were having their kids reprogrammed into being model citizens.
Aths--I haven't read the host, but it definitely made me think about the Uglies series. My students that I told about it said there is a similar movie, but they couldn't remember the name of it
Christina--Oh, just read your comment. Disturbing Behavior must be the movie! I'll have to add it to my Netflix
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