Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien ESSENTIAL

O'Brien, Caragh M. Prized, 368 pgs. Roaring Brook Press, 2011. Content PG.

This is the second book in the Birthmarked Trilogy. This begins with Gaia and her baby sister being caught out on the wasteland and taken to Sylum, a community where the men answer to the women. Much like the Enclave in Birthmarked, science and progeny are at the heart of this dystopic society. Sylum is suffering with few female births and faces extinction in few generations. Gaia smarts under the controlling rules of Sylum, and must find herself and what she believes under the heavy hand of the matriarch.

Much like the first in the series, O'Brien does a smashing job of creating a believable, yet disturbing, society. She melds science with fiction in a truly remarkable way. I was engrossed. Though Gaia made some decisions that made me not like her so much, I still recommend this book. And if you have Birthmarked in your library, this is a must when purchasing. It sets up the last in the series very well.

MS, HS-ESSENTIAL. Rebekah, youth services public librarian