Unsouled by Neal Shusterman = ESSENTIAL

Shusterman, Neal Unsouled, 404 p. Simon, 2013.  $18.  Language: PG-13 (33 swears, o ‘f’); Violence: PG-13; Mature Content: G.  

All of the main characters in the first two Unwind books are back and on the run.  Rather than tell you what is happening to each of them, I am just going to tell you that Shusterman has crafted a brilliantly plotted novel that continues the story, clears up several mysteries and even brings in more backstory from the early days of Proactive Citizenry.  I was thoroughly engrossed and extremely pleased with what I read.  Just a heads up, though.  You really need to read Unstrung, an e-short story that introduces some very important characters, before you read Unsouled.  I didn’t and I did not feel the lack at the time, but after I read Unstrung I felt even more satisfied.  Since so many forces are trying to capture every teen character, there is a high level of violence in the book, but no more than in The Hunger Games books.  And really, as much as I love The Hunger Games, Unwind is a much deeper world that deserves so much more attention.  I work in a middle school and we teach Unwind – you should too.  

MS, HS – ESSENTIAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher