Cass, Kiera The Selection, 336 p. HarperCollins, APRIL 2012. Language: PG (11 swears, 0 “f”). $18. America Singer, 17, has already found the love of her life and she has NO desire to try to win the hand of Prince Maxon. In post-apocalyptic USA, America’s family are 4’s, artisans who can make a decent living for themselves, while Aspen, her boyfriend, is only a 5, barely able to stay alive. Aspen insists that she enter, however, and America finds herself in the top 35 and moving into the palace – into a place she never wanted to be, with 34 girls she never wanted to meet, and competing for the hand of a prince she has no desire to love. Rebels and enemies of Illea make life in the palace dangerous, but so do the other girls, some of whom are willing to do whatever it takes to win.
Cass has taken the premise of The Bachelor, moved it to a future America and tried to add in a dose of Hunger Games. While it doesn’t work as well as the reality show nor the novel, I do admire America. If you pay too much attention to plot, you swiftly realize that it is pretty fluffy – not a lot of deep thought going on here. Oh, the author tries, but the clothes and the selection process occupies too much of the novel. If this were in paperback, I would be much more enthusiastic about recommending it. I am holding out hopes for a sequel with more meat. MS – OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher
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For anyone who reads the comments. I have to confess. This book has been on my mind lately, so I decided to reread it - just to see if I gave it a fair shake. I think I read it the same week that I read Anna Carey's Once. And the two books are very similar. With a second reading, The Selection holds up better than I first remembered, so I felt I'd better be fair and let you now that I read it again and I am crossing my fingers for #2.
While I still don't see it as an essential selection, I think the cover will attract just the right kind of reader. So give it a chance.
--Cindy
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