Anomaly

Gr 7 Up—Thalli has spent her whole life in Pod C. After a nuclear war decimated the world aboveground, 10 scientists created a contained life called the State. Thalli, along with her peers, is a genetically engineered human who is supposed to be free of emotion. However, she is an anomaly and has always thought and felt differently from everyone else. For most of her life she has kept this secret, but one day while playing Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," she bursts into tears from the sheer beauty of it. Thalli is scheduled for annihilation. While waiting for her punishment, she comes across a childhood friend, Berk, who is training to be one of the Scientists. He manages to have her destruction postponed, but she becomes a test subject for one of the Scientists, and they hatch an escape plan that could cost them their lives. The story is captivating, with unexpected plot twists that keep readers on their toes. While the characters are occasionally difficult to relate to, and the dialogue's formal, clipped language can be off-putting, but the story has appeal. Though at its heart a science fiction novel, there are a lot of references to the Designer-Jesus–and the book will appeal mostly to fans of Christian fiction.—Kristyn Dorfman, The Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, NY