Possession

April 25, 2011
A dominant but corrupt government is one of the most familiar tropes in dystopian fiction, and Johnson's debut novel sets up a dichotomy between "Goodies," residents of the Goodgrounds, where behavior is controlled via brainwashing and omnipresent technology, and the "Baddies," who live out in the Badlands. Violet Schoenfeld, on the brink of 16, is arrested for being out after dark with a boyâtwo infractions in an endless litany of acts forbidden to Goodies. A repeat offender, Vi is forced to share a jail cell with a Baddie, Jag, and she begins to reassess the precepts that have been fed directly into her brain from childhood. Johnson's writing is solid, and if her plot unfolds a bit too schematically (the precise orchestration is supposedly due to the perfection of the villain's control), Vi's rebellion and process of change ring true. Some readers may question Vi's acceptance of some fortuitous events along the way, but most will be drawn in by the love triangle, revelations about Vi and her family, and a dark twist ending that maintains the faintest glimmer of hope. Ages 14âup.

May 1, 2011

This debut dystopia succeeds at suspense and tension but fails at moral complexity.

Vi lives in the beige Goodlands, where good people wear required "oatmeal-colored shirts" and, by prohibition, never hug or touch. But Vi does touch and kiss her boyfriend Zenn, and she crosses forbidden borders and unplugs herself from mandatory brainwashing transmissions. She explains early on that "Goodies are walking paper dolls, devoid of personality—and brains" while authoritarian Thinkers "do the thinking so regular people won't have to." Unlike speculative fiction that successfully questions whether eliminating wars and providing adequate food for everyone might be worth losing cultural freedoms, this tale manages neither nuance nor ambiguity. Vi escapes from prison with hottie rebel Jag and travels to seek asylum, pursued by Thinkers of unknown loyalty, slowly realizing that she and Jag can control others. They lie to each other constantly, their supposedly deep love reading like simple sexual chemistry. Vi's voice is sarcastic—"we were in the park after dark (gasp!)"—with random bits of teen syrup (Jag has "blueberry eyes"). Revelations come hard and fast but don't feel meaningful, due to thin worldbuilding and sketchy details; in this society, how could Vi possibly understand a concept like "rights"?

Moral subtlety loses out to breathless pacing; the ending is derivative of Scott Westerfeld's superior Uglies (2005). (Science fiction. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

June 1, 2011

Gr 7 Up-Fifteen-year-old Violet is all about rebelling. She's angry that her father deserted the family and that her older sister is dead. She lashes out at her ineffectual mother and sneaks out for a forbidden walk in the park with Zenn, the boy she's been told she will marry. All pretty tame stuff? Not if you live in a repressive society. That walk gets Vi arrested and banished from the world of Good People. In this dystopic future world, an oligarchy of Thinkers controls the lives of Good People, and even Vi knows that being Bad is, well, really bad. But she can't help herself. In jail, she develops a relationship with a luscious young man, outsider and agitator Jag. They escape and undertake a heroic journey to a place where they just might be able to be themselves and aid the cause of liberation. Damaged as she is by the repression of her childhood, Vi just can't seem to trust Jag and her nascent feelings of lust-or is it really love? Vi also discovers that she has a very special talent, the ability to make people do her will, just like the Thinkers. She discovers, too, that her sister is alive and working with her father, who is a leader among the overlords. Emotion pumps through every scene of this thriller. Given all the urgency and action, the novel's ending may surprise readers as the heroic adventure turns into a tragic love story. As in real life, not every rebel succeeds in breaking free, but before succumbing to conformity, Vi gives emancipation a really good try.-Carolyn Lehman, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2011
Grades 10-1 Vi and Zenn are matched, which is a good thing since they've been in love for years. But now Zenn has been taken for training with the Thinkers, and Vi's brushes with the law (breaking curfew, crossing the border, touching Zenn) have landed her in hot water. Those who run things in the Goodlands decide she is beyond rehabilitation and banish her to the Badlands, along with Jag, who is helping mastermind a rebellion. But Vi and Jag escape and try to make their way to safety in Seaside. This debut novel is an intriguing dystopia in the current ocean of similar stories. For most of the novel, Vi and Jag, on the run and learning to love each other, pushe the plot forward. More creative naming of places and characters would have added significantly to the originality of world builiding Johnson is attempting, and more ambiguity would have helped the plot twists, particularly the ending, which screams sequel. A good choice for fans of Pam Bachorz, and by Ally Condie.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)