Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Never Weres by Fiona Smyth

No one has been able to have children for 15 years.  The country is torn between those in favor of cloning to carry on the human race and those who are against it.  Xian, Jesse and Mia at 15 are three of the youngest people in the world.  When Xian begins to find clues about a girls' long ago disappearance, the three friends may discover what's needed to save the world.

OK yes, so it's another book that starts off with "Oh no!  There's a virus and now no one can have babies/all the adults are dead/there's only one men left, etc."  In this case the virus has stopped procreation.  But rather than focusing on a "cure" alternatives are searched for.  What's been landed in on is cloning but there are two problems.  First of all, they can't manage to clone a fully functioning person, and two there are too many people against it, even though it can save humanity.

Xian, Jesse and Mia are all very different, and sometimes seem to have a hard time being friends because of it.  They clearly care about each other and are there for each other when it's needed.  Jesse is well off and his mother is a scientist who was involved in cloning.  His mother is very distant and Jesse is often alone.  Xian lives by herself.  Her only family is her brother who is working on another planet and hasn't been home in a long time.  Xian is adventurous and often reckless.  She's the one who makes the discovery in the sewer.  Mia lives with all her family, who she loves, but they do not see eye-to-eye.  Mia wants to be an artist, but her parents say the time for art has past and she needs to focus on survival.

While Xian makes the initial discovery, it takes the skills of all three friends (plus some help from adults, what a novel concept!) to make the ultimate discovery that might just save the entire human race.

The illustrations are done in black and white, with a lot of gray shading.  I liked this as it captured the darkness or the world.

Fans of dystopian fiction will enjoy this one.  With the added plus of an uplifting ending!

1 comment:

  1. I never heard of this book, but now after reading your review; I think I might just have to check this one out. Thank you so much for bringing my attention to it. Happy reading!

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