Harmony

February 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-Itoh ups the dystopian-fiction ante considerably by including a backstory, main plot, and postcript, each of which is disturbing in its own way. In Japan, Tuan Kirie and her friends Miach Mihie and Cian Reikado are taught about a period called the Maelstrom during which nuclear bombs and diseases ran rampant and destroyed the country once known as the United States of America. A horror of disease has driven the older generation to remake society, replacing nation-states with smaller "admedistrations," organizational bodies that use nanotech "medicules" and societal pressure to ensure that each person is as healthy as possible. The three teenagers, led by Miach, attempt to use this technology to commit suicide and thus rob society of valuable resources-their own lives. Miach is successful but Cian reveals the plot and she and Tuan are saved. Thirteen years later, Tuan continues to rebel, even while she attains a high-level position in the international medical police corps. It is under this aegis that she investigates when Cian commits suicide (one of thousands, worldwide). During her search, Tuan discovers that there may be something even more repugnant than a world of perfectly healthy people. Itoh presents a future in which humanity willingly collaborates in its own subjugation to "medical correctness." Fans of Orwell and Westerfeld will find this novel intriguing.-Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI

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