Unwind

Neal Shusterman

This story takes place sometime in the future after the second Civil War. The war split primarily along pro-life/pro-choice boundaries and after too much fighting and killing, the two sides signed an armistice. It was a crazy, far out idea that neither wanted, but both could live with. Abortion became illegal. However, between the ages of 13 and 17, parents could have their kids unwound. That is, every single body part of the person would be utilized in transplant. This way, the unwanted child would not be killed, just redistributed. The story here follows a couple of Unwinds who escape and enter the underground system, just trying to survive until they are 18, when they will be legal again. Risa was an orphan, a ward of the state. She was sent to be unwound to make space for the new orphans coming in. Connor was sent to be unwound by his parents because he was just a troublemaker. And Lev was a tithe. His religious parents conceived him explicitly for the purpose of giving back.

The idea is really prepostorous, so we don't have to take it seriously. However, it is the extreme extension of some of the arguments that people make about embryonic stem cell research and abortion today. Shursterman is also quite clear in his purpose to make the reader think about the value of life as well as the definition of human. In a couple of striking sub-plots, we are confronted with the idea of identity and soul. What is it? Where is it? Who has it?

Well done.
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