Mindwalker

April 1, 2015
A girl living in a dystopic future United States divided into castes has the ability to enter other people's brains and erase selected memories. Lain, 17, may still be in high school, but her future career as a Mindwalker seems set, and it's exactly what she wants to do with the rest of her life. At school she meets Steven, an odd boy designated Type Four and required to wear a collar that monitors his bodily functions and tranquilizes him if he becomes violent. Lain, deliberately walking in her late father's footsteps, truly believes she provides a necessary psychological service by eradicating painful memories. When Steven, the victim of atrocious child abuse, asks her to erase his memories illegally, she reluctantly agrees. When Lain learns that her activities have been detected, however, she must choose between her longed-for career and escape to Canada. Meanwhile, she finds herself far too attracted to Steven, a boy with whom she could not possibly have a future. Steiger creates extreme but mostly believable characters and a vivid future world with just enough familiar elements to lend it credence. Although some of the drama hinges on a standard mad-scientist plot rather than the dystopia within which he operates, on the whole the book manages to balance plot with thought-provoking contemplation about what makes personalities complete. An intriguing read that sets genre fans up neatly for its sequel. (Dystopian romance. 12-18)

February 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-Lain lives alone, with only her stuffed squirrel, Nutter, for comfort; her holographic cat to meet her information needs; and a housekeeper who comes three times a week, to keep things running smoothly. When she's not in high school, the 17-year-old trains as a Mindwalker, an elite position wherein she helps troubled clients forget everything from painful romantic breakups to war crimes. Lain has the gifts to be one of the best Mindwalkers ever, but the frequent neural links with trauma victims are taking their toll on her own mental and physical health. In this highly controlled future, cloning is common, suicide pills are advertised openly, and shock collars are placed on those the authorities deem unstable. When Steven, a desperate Type Four classmate begs her to help him forget a childhood trauma, she goes against Dr. Swan and those at the Institute for Ethics in Neurotechnology, and sees him in secret. Steven's memories are more complicated and dangerous than either teen imagined, and it isn't long before Lain and Steven have short-circuited her self-driving car and gone on the run. As their friendship turns into mutual attraction, they realize that continuing to look for answers could prove deadly. This novel is more dystopian romance than pure science fiction. VERDICT This is unlikely to linger long in most readers' minds; an additional purchase for large libraries.-Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2015
Grades 9-12 Lain Fisher, 17, lives in a war-, violence-, crime-free America, thanks to the government and the Institute for Ethics in Neurotechnology. The population is controlled through conditioning and can undergo Mindwalking, a process that removes negative memories, leaving behind only homogeneous sociability. While Lain is training to become a Mindwalker (one who removes memories), she meets Steven, a victim of horrific child abuse who is a Type Four in the caste system; he wears a collar that monitors his brain and actions and tazes him if he becomes violent. Steven asks Lain to remove his most painful memories illegally. During clandestine sessions, they discover disturbing secrets about the government and Lain's deceased father. When Lain's meetings with Steven are discovered, she is forced to choose between her career and escaping with Steven, for whom she is falling. Steiger poses some unsettling questions about mental health and the potential reality of mind control. Action from first to last page will invigorate the brain waves of dystopian-fiction fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)