"Unwind" by Neal Shusterman

In a world where abortion is a banned surgery, parents can have their troublesome teenagers unwound for body parts for sick people who need them. Witness the adventure of 3 kids who are trying to escape being unwound and live to the age of 18. Connor, one of the 3, is sent for his unwinding due to the fact that he is a trouble-maker who won’t be successful in life. Risa is an orphan who is being unwound to lower the amount of money the orphanage needs so they can improve living conditions and get more food as well as the fact that Risa has picked the non-practical profession of becoming a Pianist. Lev was marked as being unwound from the moment of birth. His parents follow a religion where they give 10% of everything to god, including their 10th son.

The three meet each other by chance and run from the police force designed to track down runaway unwinds. The 3 are driven forward knowing that everything they do is a risk and that their lives could be over at any second. Their goal is to survive to 18 but knowing if you don’t that your body will be surgically ripped apart and given to the world doesn’t help much. Driven by desperation the 3 do as they must to survive even if it means doing the unthinkable in their world. This includes carrying an abandoned baby with them, having someone that actually wanted to be unwound in the group, and more. Chaos seems to erupt in their minds as they meet other unwinds (hindering their progress as well as helping it) and the stress of thinking that your life is over sinks in.

Their hopes are raised by learning that there are unwind communities that you can seek out and live in until the age of 18. Living for 5 years may sound easy but it is a lot harder when police are after you and if anyone finds out you’re an unwind you are going to be unwound on the spot by police cruising the city. As the 3 fight for survival they find allies and enemies that they wouldn’t suspect until they saw them for themselves. Connor knowing that he would be hunted after shooting a police officer leads the group by shear determination using crazy ideas that bring them to the edge of being discovered. Risa just follows along and helps in any way possible, while Lev is less committed to the group. It is hard to guess if all 3 of them will survive to see their 18 birthdays.

I myself think that being unwound is an inhumane response to banning abortion. Though it does help the adults who are sick and some people do consider it dying, you actually live since every part of your body is working and alive in other people. I think that no one should have their parents decide whether or not they will live or be surgically divided so that other people could use your body parts. I also see a point to banning abortion but instead of ending their life I think that it would be simpler to simply increase the amount of orphanages. Unwinding is practical but is a terrible way to so to speak “die”. As for teenagers running away from this cruel fate decided by their parents I applaud them for making the difficult choice of either dying or surviving 5 years with everyone you know and love looking for you to get rid of you. I think that this book really makes you think a lot.

A story of action and suspense that will please any reader of fiction books no matter how picky they are.

>>Buy “Unwind” by Neal Shusterman.