Anomalies

February 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Turner and Freedman masterfully create a futuristic world where lives are carefully planned out. Individuals are paired at the age of five with their intended. Then at 15, they are reunited, given careers, and sent out to an assigned community. On the surface there appears to be no war, disease, or famine. Beneath the carefree civility lie secrets that the ruling Global Governance will kill to keep. Unknowingly caught up in a covert war, 15-year-old Keeva goes to Monarch Camp expecting to be imprinted with her life partner. When she arrives, she finds that her intended has died and Keeva is now an anomaly: a citizen who has no partner. Without the imprinting process to control her, Keeva more openly questions a society that she has always found sophistic. Who took her baby sister all those years ago? What does the Governance want with the anomalies? When will the resistance strike, and how does she fit into the plan? As Keeva uncovers answers, she has to discover who she truly is before more lives are lost and nightmares become reality. A lively story with plenty of appeal for reluctant readers, this work ends in an abrupt, unresolved conclusion. There is no doubt that a sequel is on its way. VERDICT A general purchase for libraries where Ally Condie's "Matched" (Dutton) or Veronica Roth's "Divergent" series (HarperCollins) are popular.-Claire Covington, Broadway High School, VA

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