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Scythe by Neal Shusterman What if we were able to cure death? What if disease and old age and accidents were a thing of the past, and we could live forever? How would this impact our society? And how would we keep out population growth under control? These are questions Shusterman raises in his new book, and he addresses them well. In his imagined future, life is pretty close to perfect, but something has to be done to keep the population to a manageable number. That’s where the Scythes come in.
Scythes are individuals chosen to live a life set apart, to “glean” others from the population. Only death doled out by a Scythe is truly irreversible. Scythes are respected and revered, are given anything they want for free, and live outside the laws that govern others. Scythes’ families are immune from gleaning for the lifespan of the Scythe, and the only way for a Scythe to die is by gleaning themselves. How would you handle being assigned to become a professional murderer? Do the pros outweigh the cons? If they do, you probably won’t be selected to become a Scythe. I enjoyed this novel a lot. The author raises interesting philosophical questions, his characters grow/change throughout the book, and the world building of the storyline is excellent. Shusterman chooses not to let any romance of the two main characters take away from the plot, as so many YA authors tend to do. Citra and Rowan are two teens who have been chosen to apprentice with Scythe Faraday. Neither of them wants to be a Scythe and spend their lives killing fellow citizens, but they really have no choice other than to compete for the position. Their views on death and the age of immortality are varied and interesting. I also loved how Shusterman wrote each Scythe doing the same job in completely different ways. I would recommend this novel to students who enjoy a little philosophy served up with their dystopian death novels. ;)
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