Unwind (Book 1 in the Unwind Dystology)

 

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

One of the titles in our 2026-2027 Battle of the Books competition! 

Stop by the library and check it out!

Three teens fight for their lives and each other in this breathtakingly suspenseful first book in the twisted, New York Times bestselling Unwind Dystology series by Neal Shusterman.

After America’s Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to an agreement. According to their Bill of Life, human life may not be terminated from the moment of conception until the age of thirteen. But between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, the child may be gotten rid of by their parent through a process called “unwinding.”

By repurposing a teen’s organs and other body parts in living recipients, the unwound child’s life doesn’t technically end. According to society’s leaders, unwinding leads to a healthier and safer community, as troublesome and unwanted teens are used for the greater good.

Conner is a rebel whose unwinding was ordered by his parents. Rita, a ward of the state, has been slated for unwinding due to cost cutting. And Lev, his parents’ tenth child, has been destined for unwinding since birth as a religious tithe. As their paths intersect, they start to fight for their own destinies. But do they stand a chance of escaping their fate or proving their lives are worth saving?

"Following in the footsteps of Jonathan Swift, Shusterman uncorks a Modest Proposal of his own to solve a Pro-Life/Pro-Choice dilemma...ingeniously developed cast and premise."--Booklist

"The shocking premise is unveiled immediately, and a nail-biting pace is sustained throughout, with the teens flung headlong into a true life-or-death struggle...these haunting debates will likely linger in the reader's mind even after the riveting plot fades...an ideal blend of philosophy and action set in a compelling futuristic landscape."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Monthly Staff Picks!

 Matt had this wonderful idea for us to share which books in our library we have read and would recommend to others! For the month of March, he picked Love in English by Maria E. Andreu and I chose We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson.

       

Love in English by Maria E. Andreu

A fresh, joyful YA novel that is layered with themes of immigration, cultural identity, and finding your voice in any language. 

Sixteen-year-old Ana is a poet and a lover of language. Except that since she moved to New Jersey from Argentina, she can barely find the words to express how she feels.

At first Ana just wants to return home. Then she meets Harrison, the very cute, very American boy in her math class, and discovers the universal language of racing hearts. But when she begins to spend time with Neo, the Greek Cypriot boy from ESL, Ana wonders how figuring out what her heart wants can be even more confusing than the grammar they’re both trying to master. After all, the rules of English may be confounding, but there are no rules when it comes to love.

With playful and poetic breakouts exploring the idiosyncrasies of the English language, Love in English is witty and effervescent, while telling a beautifully observed story about what it means to become “American.” 

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

From the “author to watch” (Kirkus Reviews) of The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley comes an “equal parts sarcastic and profound” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) novel about a teenage boy who must decide whether or not the world is worth saving.

Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button.

Only he isn’t sure he wants to.

After all, life hasn’t been great for Henry. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer’s. And Henry is still dealing with the grief of his boyfriend’s suicide last year.

Wiping the slate clean sounds like a pretty good choice to him.

But Henry is a scientist first, and facing the question thoroughly and logically, he begins to look for pros and cons: in the bully who is his perpetual one-night stand, in the best friend who betrayed him, in the brilliant and mysterious boy who walked into the wrong class. Weighing the pain and the joy that surrounds him, Henry is left with the ultimate choice: push the button and save the planet and everyone on it…or let the world—and his pain—be destroyed forever.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

The gripping first installment in global bestselling author Tahereh Mafi’s epic, romantic Shatter Me series.

One touch is all it takes. One touch, and Juliette Ferrars can leave a fully grown man gasping for air. One touch, and she can kill.

No one knows why Juliette has such incredible power. It feels like a curse, a burden that one person alone could never bear. But The Reestablishment sees it as a gift, sees her as an opportunity. An opportunity for a deadly weapon.

Juliette has never fought for herself before. But when she’s reunited with the one person who ever cared about her, she finds a strength she never knew she had. 

Check out all the books in the original series, we have them in our library!

Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel

 

Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel

Xavier Oaks doesn't particularly want to go to the cabin with his dad and his dad's pregnant new wife, Nia. But family obligations are family obligations, and it's only for a short time. So he leaves his mom, his brother, and his other friends behind for a week in the woods. Only . . . one morning he wakes up and the house isn't where it was before. It's like it's been lifted and placed . . . somewhere else.

When Xavier, his dad, and Nia go explore, they find they are inside a dome, trapped. And there's no one else around . . . 

Until, three years later, another family arrives.

Is there any escape? Is there a reason they are stuck where they are? Different people have different answers — and those different answers inexorably lead to tension, strife, and sacrifice.

In this masterpiece, award-winning author Kenneth Oppel builds a heart-stopping story that feels very much of our moment, where our very human choices collectively lead to humanity's eventual fate.

Snowglobe

 

Snowglobe, Bk. 1 of the Snowglobe Duology by Soyoung Park 

In a world of constant winter, only the citizens of the climate-controlled city of Snowglobe can escape the bitter cold—but this perfect society is hiding dark and dangerous secrets within its frozen heart.

Enclosed under a vast dome, Snowglobe is the last place on Earth that’s warm. Outside Snowglobe is a frozen wasteland, and every day, citizens face the icy world to get to their jobs at the power plant, where they produce the energy Snowglobe needs. Their only solace comes in the form of twenty-four-hour television programming streamed directly from the domed city.

The residents of Snowglobe have everything: fame, fortune, and above all, safety from the desolation outside their walls. In exchange, their lives are broadcast to the less fortunate outside, who watch eagerly, hoping for the chance to one day become actors themselves.

Chobahm lives for the time she spends watching the shows produced inside Snowglobe. Her favorite? Goh Around, starring Goh Haeri, Snowglobe’s biggest star—and, it turns out, the key to getting Chobahm her dream life.

Because Haeri is dead, and Chobahm has been chosen to take her place. Only, life inside Snowglobe is nothing like what you see on television. Reality is a lie, and truth seems to be forever out of reach.

Translated for the first time into English from the original Korean, Snowglobe is a groundbreaking exploration of personal identity, and the future of the world as we know it. It is the winner of the Changbi X Kakaopage Young Adult Novel Award.

Reviews

“A thrillingly and ingeniously conceived allegory about where we are, and where we’re headed.” —David Yoon, New York Times bestselling author of Frankly in Love

"Utterly unputdownable, Snowglobe is an out-of-this-world dystopian thrill ride. Soyoung Park has created an addictive, twisty tale perfect for fans looking for the next Squid Game or Parasite.”—Amélie Wen Zhao, New York Times bestselling author of Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

"Readers will appreciate the rich Korean culture that permeates every part of the book and the well-done character development." —School Library Journal

One of our Battle of the Books titles! Come into the library if you're interested in joining the club!

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Summary

Ambition will fuel him.

Competition will drive him.

But power has its price.

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Reviews

 

#1 USA Today Bestseller

#1 New York Times Bestseller

"The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes delivers a mesmerizing look into the life of Coriolanus Snow and the root causes of his villainous behavior. Collins once again proves that she is a master of building a fascinating world around complex characters who must grapple with the complications of chaos and control and their effects on human nature." -- The Associated Press

"It is a steep challenge to write a book whose hero is, everyone knows, destined to become deeply evil. Do we want to hear -- now, after we know the endgame -- that the young Voldemort was unfairly saddled with a demerit in class or that the adolescent Sauron fretted because he had to wear hand-me-down clothes? Yes, please." -- New York Times

"For true fans of The Hunger Games, Collins shines most as she weaves in tantalizing details that lend depth to the gruesome world she created in the original series and Coriolanus's place in its history." -- Time

Star Splitter

 

Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby

Crash-landed on a desolate planet light-years from Earth, seventeen-year-old Jessica Mathers must unravel the mystery of the bloody destruction all around her—and the questionable intentions of a familiar stranger.

2199. Deep-space exploration is a reality and teleportation is routine. But this time something seems to have gone very, very wrong. Seventeen-year-old Jessica Mathers wakes up in a lander that’s crashed onto the surface of Carver 1061c, a desolate, post-extinction planet fourteen light-years from Earth. The planet she was supposed to be viewing from a ship orbiting far above.

The corridors of the empty lander are covered in bloody hand prints; the machines are silent and dark. And outside, in the alien dirt, there are fresh graves carefully marked with names she doesn’t recognize. Now Jessica must unravel the mystery of the destruction all around her—and the questionable intentions of a familiar stranger.

Self-determination and survival collide in this haunting, pulse-pounding science fiction novel from Edgar Award–winning author Matthew J. Kirby that spans both space and time.

Reviews

The Raven Boys

 

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater 

"There are only two reasons a nonseer would see a spirit on St. Mark's Eve," Neeve said. "Either you're his true love... or you killed him."

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive. Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them - not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He has it all - family money, good looks, devoted friends - but he's looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the best-selling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we've never been before. 

Reviews

“. . . the book is marvelous, for not only is it filled with marvels, it is also a marvel of imagination and, more prosaically, structure. Rich, too, in characterization, this fantasy/mystery rises to the level of serious literature” - Booklist, starred review

"Stiefvater not only weaves a suspenseful tale of Blue’s involvement with three such boys and their quest for the grave of an ancient king, but she also does so stylishly, with sly social commentary." - The Washington Post

Norma's Review 

So, this is definitely an older series for some of you guys but I decided to pick up this book and I must say, I genuinely like it! I'm already onto the second book of the series and I hope to finish all four book by the end of September. The characters are so interesting and unique, each have their own voice, personality and motivations, and they're all generally likable. There's magic and mysteries in a modern setting, what more could you ask for?

If any of you guys have read or want to read this series please come talk to me about it in the library!

Scythe (Book #1 of Arc of a Scythe Trilogy)

   Covers for Arc of A Scythe Trilogy by Neal Shusterman

A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021)

Two teens must learn the “art of killing” in this Printz Honor–winning book, the first in a chilling new series from Neal Shusterman, author of the New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Scythe is the first novel of a thrilling new series by National Book Award–winning author Neal Shusterman in which Citra and Rowan learn that a perfect world comes only with a heavy price.

Reviews

"Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman's dark tale thrusts realistic, likeable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions. A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Shusterman is no stranger to pushing boundaries. Scythe owes an obvious debt to Unwind (2007) and its sequels, and this succeeds as a sort of shadow companion to Patrick Ness’ Chaos Walking trilogy: instead of exploring the ways in which men are monsters, this deals in what happens to men when there are no monsters. When our reach does not exceed our grasp, when comfort is more easily obtained than struggle,

when our essential humanity doesn’t burn out but becomes slowly irrelevant, what becomes of us? Readers will find many things in these pages. Answers to such unsettling questions will not be among them." -- Maggie Reagan ― Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

Also In The Series: 

Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Legend by Marie Lu

California Young Reader Medal Nominee for 2014-2015

Author's Book Trailer

This gripping, dystopian novel tells the entire tale from two points of view.  The chapters alternate between June's perspective and Day's.  The reader senses, and waits, for their paths to cross.  The setting is the future western states, now know as the Republic, a nation at war with its neighbors. 

June is a 15 year old prodigy, born into wealth and groomed by the Republic army.  Day, on the other hand, was raised in the slums and is referred to as a criminal.  There is no real reason for their lives to cross paths, but they do; it is difficult as a reader to put the book down, sensing the meeting will happen soon.

Day is simply trying to keep his family together and survive, but he is thrust into June's world as she seeks to avenge the death of her brother, Metias.  This unlikely pair begin to unravel the mysteries of not only Metias's death, but also the evil workings of the government he was serving at the time of his death.    

The novel is fast-paced and full of twists and connections.  The alternating perspectives places the reader inside the minds of both characters in a way that brings each to life.  If you enjoy dystopian novels, like The Hunger Games series, you will enjoy this novel as well as the sequels, Prodigy and Champion.
Mrs. Flores  

Excerpt from the novel:  

DAY

"In other words the Republic has no idea what I look like.  They don't seem to know much of anything about me, except that I am young and when they run my fingerprints they don't find a match in their databases.  That's why they hate me, why I am not the most dangerous criminal in the country, but the most wanted.  I make them look bad (Lu 2)."