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Altered
In a dystopian future, the new government known only as the Privatol invades American soil, and crops propel the engine. Uncontrollable tyranny has succeeded in dictating where people live, what they do, and what they eat. When Abree, a spunky twelve-year-old is taken away to learn the process of modifying seed to Newly Constructed Food she discovers an evil plan that could alter the fate of the human race, and a way out if only she can escape to tell the others.
A fast paced tale of conspiracy and escape through the southwestern desert and northern Mexico as Abree, her older brother and his girlfriend defy an abusive government.
A fast paced tale of conspiracy and escape through the southwestern desert and northern Mexico as Abree, her older brother and his girlfriend defy an abusive government.
238 pages, Paperback
First published April 11, 2014
20 people want to read
About the author
D.L. Gardner
53 books183 followersWith a passion for a good wholesome story, Gardner dives into the adult and young adult fantasy genres. She is both a best selling author and an award winning illustrator who lives in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Dabbling in screenwriting, she's won screenings and a trophy for some of her film projects.
She loves a tale that ignites imaginations, strengthens friendships, spurs courage and applauds honor. Though she targets her stories for young adults, her books are enjoyed by all ages.
D.L. Gardner is a columnist for the science fiction and fantasy publication Amazing Stories Magazine
http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2017/10/...
Librarian Note: Also writes under the pen name Dianne Lynn Gardner.
She loves a tale that ignites imaginations, strengthens friendships, spurs courage and applauds honor. Though she targets her stories for young adults, her books are enjoyed by all ages.
D.L. Gardner is a columnist for the science fiction and fantasy publication Amazing Stories Magazine
http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2017/10/...
Librarian Note: Also writes under the pen name Dianne Lynn Gardner.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 11, 2014
Altered is a sophisticated story with many layers in the edgy plot. Within the first few lines I was lost into this dramatic eye-opening story. The writing is impeccable and so descriptive that you can see the characters with your very own eyes, or your imagination, that is. The authors use of language is poetic and yet readable. This is a very easy story to follow and an adventure that takes you right in. Every emotion is felt and this tale becomes personal.
I really enjoyed this suspenseful satisfying escape as I was captured and raptured into the unknown. Hoping for a peaceful resolve. This tale is clever, chilling and wildly compelling. So much so that I read Altered in one sitting. I must applaud the author. This is not just a YA book but one I think everyone would find entertaining. Highly recommend checking this book out. It is a rare beauty.
This is a story of survival and fighting for what you believe is right. Empowering for both males and females.
Excerpt~
Lights filled the van as the trooper’s car closed in. Ivana’s heart leapt to her throat when red and blue flashers invaded their vehicle. A siren sounded. Ivana pulled over and rolled down her window, but she didn’t turn the engine off. She dared not look into the back of the van for fear she’d give away her friends’ camouflage. Every movement she made could be used against her. She bit into her gum and tried to calm her racing heartbeat.
I really enjoyed this suspenseful satisfying escape as I was captured and raptured into the unknown. Hoping for a peaceful resolve. This tale is clever, chilling and wildly compelling. So much so that I read Altered in one sitting. I must applaud the author. This is not just a YA book but one I think everyone would find entertaining. Highly recommend checking this book out. It is a rare beauty.
This is a story of survival and fighting for what you believe is right. Empowering for both males and females.
Excerpt~
Lights filled the van as the trooper’s car closed in. Ivana’s heart leapt to her throat when red and blue flashers invaded their vehicle. A siren sounded. Ivana pulled over and rolled down her window, but she didn’t turn the engine off. She dared not look into the back of the van for fear she’d give away her friends’ camouflage. Every movement she made could be used against her. She bit into her gum and tried to calm her racing heartbeat.
March 6, 2015
Altered by Dianne Lynn Gardner is a young adult dystopian novel written with the premise that the government is contaminating the food supply.
The story begins with a young girl and her family existing in a world where genetically modified foods are the norm and only the government and its regime can produce crops. This makes every citizen a slave to the powers that be and all must follow the rules or die from lack of food. Although this is a fictional tale, it is easy to see that the premise could very well occur in the real world with companies such as Monsanto taking control of seeds and dictating the terms of usage to the farmers that sow them. This was a face-paced, adventurous read and one that will make you question what companies and the government are really doing to our food supply.
The author did a very good job in weaving a believable tale with fully developed characters. I felt myself caring about them and rooting for their success even in the darkest times of the story.
This is the first book I have read from Ms. Gardner. Will be reading her newest title, Pouraka, in the very near future.
The story begins with a young girl and her family existing in a world where genetically modified foods are the norm and only the government and its regime can produce crops. This makes every citizen a slave to the powers that be and all must follow the rules or die from lack of food. Although this is a fictional tale, it is easy to see that the premise could very well occur in the real world with companies such as Monsanto taking control of seeds and dictating the terms of usage to the farmers that sow them. This was a face-paced, adventurous read and one that will make you question what companies and the government are really doing to our food supply.
The author did a very good job in weaving a believable tale with fully developed characters. I felt myself caring about them and rooting for their success even in the darkest times of the story.
This is the first book I have read from Ms. Gardner. Will be reading her newest title, Pouraka, in the very near future.
August 19, 2019
Altered has a great premise, it has plenty of action, characters I cared about with habits that annoyed me (popping gum).
A fabulous read that I would recommend to just about anyone who loves dystopian or a story with a moral to it.
A fabulous read that I would recommend to just about anyone who loves dystopian or a story with a moral to it.
May 12, 2014
This was an awesome book! The whole premise behind this book is that everyone is part of some government GMO conspiracy. They are experimenting with the food to control the population. This book was a very good read! I literally couldn't put it down.
August 4, 2021
Altered begins with a premise that seems rooted in a fear that’s become more prevalent in the modern world: food contamination. We live in an era where things that were once considered safe have become potential dangers to us. A few years ago, I wouldn’t thought of pre-packaged salad as potentially life-threatening, for instance. Now, it feels sometimes that the media is constantly alerting the public to some new problem with the food supply. Gardner takes this problem one step forward: what if the supply was being contaminated on purpose? What if this contaminant could be used as a form of mind control?
When you think about it, this is a terrifying idea. How can you retain freedom when everything that sustains you is a tool meant to keep you captive?
This is the problem that the young antagonists must struggle with as the secret is revealed. A shifting storyline moves the focus between the United States and Mexico, between children and parents, between those who have given up and those who will never give in. There is much more to the world that Gardner creates, I think, than just one short novel can express and one hopes that the author will retain this delicate balance between modern politics and old gods and continue on with the tale that she has begun.
When you think about it, this is a terrifying idea. How can you retain freedom when everything that sustains you is a tool meant to keep you captive?
This is the problem that the young antagonists must struggle with as the secret is revealed. A shifting storyline moves the focus between the United States and Mexico, between children and parents, between those who have given up and those who will never give in. There is much more to the world that Gardner creates, I think, than just one short novel can express and one hopes that the author will retain this delicate balance between modern politics and old gods and continue on with the tale that she has begun.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
dnf
August 13, 2021Have recently read for SPSFC - review and rating to come later
August 21, 2014
This book has quite a few 5 star reviews, giving me high expectations. Maybe too high.
The premise is interesting. A young adolescent girl and her family caught up in a world where food has been genetically altered (Monsanto anyone?) so that crops no longer produce seed meaning only this new regime can produce crops AND a new military regime that has taken control of the USA essentially making everyone a working prisoner, or locking them up to die.
A bit grim for a YA novel perhaps.
I really had high hopes for this, especially because the author touches on the Hopi legends of The Ant People. Sadly she really doesn't explore that legend at all. Although The Ant People are referenced several times there is no real explanation of what The Ant People are or why they are important, except that a few of the characters use them as inspiration to keep fighting. Similarly, the Mexican diety Quetzalcoatl was referenced - actually in conjunction with The Ant People references, but again with no real exploration of any related legends. I'm not sure why the author chose these two legends to combine in this way because as far as I can tell they are unrelated, but it is fiction after all.
So with those dissapointments aside I'm afraid I have to add a few more. Some of the other reviews I've read on this book rave over how well written it is. I'm afraid I must disagree. I found it severely in need of a content editor. I have never seen, or heard, so many people sneer, snicker or get red in the face. It got to be very annoying. And twice the author said that a character's ears hurt because of the silence. Huh? The characters often seemed bi-polar, laughing and high spirited when the situation was serious. It just felt off. The dialogue also didn't feel realistic to me at all.
The story itself wasn't bad. It had heart. It had adventure. It had some characters you wanted to care about. But.
Sadly, for me this was a book that had a ton of promise, but it just didn't live up to it.
The premise is interesting. A young adolescent girl and her family caught up in a world where food has been genetically altered (Monsanto anyone?) so that crops no longer produce seed meaning only this new regime can produce crops AND a new military regime that has taken control of the USA essentially making everyone a working prisoner, or locking them up to die.
A bit grim for a YA novel perhaps.
I really had high hopes for this, especially because the author touches on the Hopi legends of The Ant People. Sadly she really doesn't explore that legend at all. Although The Ant People are referenced several times there is no real explanation of what The Ant People are or why they are important, except that a few of the characters use them as inspiration to keep fighting. Similarly, the Mexican diety Quetzalcoatl was referenced - actually in conjunction with The Ant People references, but again with no real exploration of any related legends. I'm not sure why the author chose these two legends to combine in this way because as far as I can tell they are unrelated, but it is fiction after all.
So with those dissapointments aside I'm afraid I have to add a few more. Some of the other reviews I've read on this book rave over how well written it is. I'm afraid I must disagree. I found it severely in need of a content editor. I have never seen, or heard, so many people sneer, snicker or get red in the face. It got to be very annoying. And twice the author said that a character's ears hurt because of the silence. Huh? The characters often seemed bi-polar, laughing and high spirited when the situation was serious. It just felt off. The dialogue also didn't feel realistic to me at all.
The story itself wasn't bad. It had heart. It had adventure. It had some characters you wanted to care about. But.
Sadly, for me this was a book that had a ton of promise, but it just didn't live up to it.
April 15, 2014
Altered
By Author Dianne Gardner
A truly triumphant and inspirational read!!!
Welcome inside of a world that not only mirrors the reality in our world today, but also the world I myself am personally from being a Native American Indian. As I began to read I was touched by the incredible courage and strength of the main character Abree. Her determination to overcome her current hardships and to be a pivotal change through the horrible circumstances she finds not only herself, but of those who are closes to her.
It’s amazing how a story written with such eloquence and emotion can touch you. Author Dianne Gardner has done just that. I felt all the emotions of a little girl so long ago sitting and listening to the Native stories being told to me by my grandmothers, which were also my parent’s, and how even then those stories and circumstances could apply to the ever changing but still the same world we live in today.
Brilliantly and with such exceptional vision and ease, Author Dianne Gardner creates a visually alive world within the pages of her novel that you will find yourself so drawn in, that you will have to pause and question if it is not your reality. Perfection at its best, a truly awe inspiring and triumphantly amazing read!!! (WaAr)
Read and Reviewed By: De Ann Townes Jr. Author of (Peer Inside My Soul and See Me) and (A King Among Prince)
By Author Dianne Gardner
A truly triumphant and inspirational read!!!
Welcome inside of a world that not only mirrors the reality in our world today, but also the world I myself am personally from being a Native American Indian. As I began to read I was touched by the incredible courage and strength of the main character Abree. Her determination to overcome her current hardships and to be a pivotal change through the horrible circumstances she finds not only herself, but of those who are closes to her.
It’s amazing how a story written with such eloquence and emotion can touch you. Author Dianne Gardner has done just that. I felt all the emotions of a little girl so long ago sitting and listening to the Native stories being told to me by my grandmothers, which were also my parent’s, and how even then those stories and circumstances could apply to the ever changing but still the same world we live in today.
Brilliantly and with such exceptional vision and ease, Author Dianne Gardner creates a visually alive world within the pages of her novel that you will find yourself so drawn in, that you will have to pause and question if it is not your reality. Perfection at its best, a truly awe inspiring and triumphantly amazing read!!! (WaAr)
Read and Reviewed By: De Ann Townes Jr. Author of (Peer Inside My Soul and See Me) and (A King Among Prince)
August 4, 2021
Altered begins with a premise that seems rooted in a fear that’s become more prevalent in the modern world: food contamination. We live in an era where things that were once considered safe have become potential dangers to us. A few years ago, I wouldn’t thought of pre-packaged salad as potentially life-threatening, for instance. Now, it feels sometimes that the media is constantly alerting the public to some new problem with the food supply. Gardner takes this problem one step forward: what if the supply was being contaminated on purpose? What if this contaminant could be used as a form of mind control?
When you think about it, this is a terrifying idea. How can you retain freedom when everything that sustains you is a tool meant to keep you captive?
This is the problem that the young antagonists must struggle with as the secret is revealed. A shifting storyline moves the focus between the United States and Mexico, between children and parents, between those who have given up and those who will never give in. There is much more to the world that Gardner creates, I think, than just one short novel can express and one hopes that the author will retain this delicate balance between modern politics and old gods and continue on with the tale that she has begun.
When you think about it, this is a terrifying idea. How can you retain freedom when everything that sustains you is a tool meant to keep you captive?
This is the problem that the young antagonists must struggle with as the secret is revealed. A shifting storyline moves the focus between the United States and Mexico, between children and parents, between those who have given up and those who will never give in. There is much more to the world that Gardner creates, I think, than just one short novel can express and one hopes that the author will retain this delicate balance between modern politics and old gods and continue on with the tale that she has begun.
April 15, 2014
This book will make you think... if you want to. The premise of the story revolves around something that could very well happen in our future: food contamination. The Grays (military officials, basically the people running the country) mess with the genetics of food to make people stronger, faster, complacent, calmer, etc. Pretty much, whatever they want you to feel or do, they can manipulate you through the food.
That's a scary thought. A very real thought. This could happen.
Dianne's writing is fluid, the action in the book is nonstop, and the characters are very real. I feel like I've been to Mexico with Ivana, Jose, Nate and Jerry; that I've been to first the Lab and then prison with Abree. There are so many things that happen in this novel, which also has a strong line of mythology in it, based around the Quetzacoatl and the Ant People. Everything about this book is captivating. I recommend it to anyone looking for a great YA Dystopian to read!
That's a scary thought. A very real thought. This could happen.
Dianne's writing is fluid, the action in the book is nonstop, and the characters are very real. I feel like I've been to Mexico with Ivana, Jose, Nate and Jerry; that I've been to first the Lab and then prison with Abree. There are so many things that happen in this novel, which also has a strong line of mythology in it, based around the Quetzacoatl and the Ant People. Everything about this book is captivating. I recommend it to anyone looking for a great YA Dystopian to read!
May 8, 2014
I like the way this book has of taking hot topics from current events and putting them into them into a credible cautionary tale about huge multinational corporate control of the world food supply. There is plenty to hold the reader's interest as multiple plot lines converge to a thrilling, unpredictable confrontation in a picturesque southwestern setting. A real page turner for all ages. There was a point in the book where I feared a political bias might emerge. Thankfully, the book surprised me in being largely apolitical and true to its science fiction, young adult thriller feel. Enjoyed it immensely and recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys a good adventure story and is interested in geopolitical affairs.
April 15, 2014
Altered is a young adult dystopian novel with a difference. It deals with a world where the government don't just control people - they manipulate their very genes. Dealing with things like gangs and overbearing adults, Dianne Gardner has crafted a story that makes you eager to read a continuation. I know I'm definitely looking forward to the next book, as this just wasn't enough!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews