Unwind by Neal Shusterman

I didn't think I was ever a fan of the Science-fiction genre, but the more I read, the more I realize I may very well be. Unwind is one of those books that made me rethink my own preferences.

Unwanted pregnancies that result in unwanted children are running rampant. The government decides to step in and make some changes. As seems to be status quo for government intervention, things getting taken a little further than intended and blown completely out of proportion. In this mess of bureaucracy and bipartisan politics is created the idea of unwinding. Rather than allowing abortions, the government has decided it is better to allow people to "stork" their unwanted babies. This means you leave the baby on a doorstep and the first person to see the baby is now responsible for them. You are off the hook and it is totally legal! The main purpose of unwinding, however, is to allow parents a sort of "reverse abortion." If their child is "troublesome" or not really going to amount to much in their opinion, they can sign papers to have their child "unwound." The child is not killed, but rather all of their body parts are harvested and used to repair medical conditions in others. In this way, the child is spread all over, but continues to live. Unwinding is an option until the child turns 18. Then, they are safe from this fate. This creates an entire group of unwanted teens with nothing to lose. Connor is one of those teens. His parents have decided to have him unwound do to his constant fighting, temper issues and low performance at school. Connor learns of their plan and escapes before he can be harvested. Risa is another unwind, as they are called. She is a ward of the state and is being unwound to save money and make room for others since she has no outstanding abilities or qualities. Lev is an unwind of a different type. He is a tithe, a religious offering born for the sole purpose of being unwound as his families offering on his 13th birthday. All three of these characters are thrust together in a strange twist of fate that leaves them running for their lives, literally. They run until they reach a sequence of safe houses that will lead them to a camp in Arizona bent on keeping the Unwinds safe until their 18th birthday.

Things seem to be going well until the bully, Roland, blows their cover. Roland, Connor and Risa are sent to a harvesting camp to be unwind. At this same camp, they run into Lev who they have been separated from for quite some time. Lev is changed. He is now a clapper and ready to detonate himself and close down the harvesting camp for good. In the end, all but Roland are saved from a horrible fate. However, part of Roland will always live on with Connor...

It may sound quite far-fetched, but in reality, is it? In a time where you can pick the sex of your baby, where cloning is a real life occurrence and no long science-fiction is this really that far off?