Harker Heights Public Library Teens discussion

I just read an incredible book about Genetic Engineering. It's called "The Adoration of Jenna Fox." It was amazing. The novel explored how far you might be willing to go to save a loved one. It reminded me a little of "Eva," a much older book that explores using cutting edge science to save a life. The quality of that life, however, is the main question in the book. Have you read any particularly good, thought provoking, and/or terrifying books about genetic engineering, weird science, mutations, or other attempts to prolong life or make people perfect?

Here is a look at the booklist the Library has made so far:

Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
The story is set in a London six hundred years in the future. People all around the world are part of a totalitarian state, free from war, hatred, poverty, disease, and pain. However, in order to maintain such a smoothly running society, the Controllers eliminate most forms of freedom and twist around many traditionally held human values.

Double Helix – Nancy Werlin
Double Helix explores identity, intimacy, and the complicated ethics of genetic engineering.

Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card
Andrew (Ender) Wiggin has been wearing a "monitor" that permits the authorities to understand his experiences from the inside. He has it taken out on the day that the book begins.

Fight Game – Kate Wild
Fifteen-year-old Freedom Smith is a fighter, just like all of his relatives who have the "Hercules gene," which leads him to a choice between being jailed for attempted murder or working with a covert law enforcement agency to break up a mysterious, illegal fight ring.

Genesis Alpha – Rune Michaels
When thirteen-year-old Josh's beloved older brother, Max, is arrested for murder, the victim's sister leads Josh to evidence of Max's guilt--and her own--hidden in their favorite online role-playing game and Josh, who was conceived to save Max's life years earlier, must consider whether he shares that guilt.

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment – James Patterson
After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "birdkids," who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose.

The Goodness Gene – Sonia Levitin
As son of the Compassionate Director of the Dominion of the Americas, Will, along with his twin brother Berk, has been groomed for leadership in a society that values genetic fitness, but he encounters information which causes him to question that society as well as his own identity.

The Sky Inside – Clare B. Dunkle
Martin lives in a "perfect world" under the protective dome of suburb HM1, where every year a new generation of genetically-engineered children is shipped out to meet their parents. And it's all about to come crashing down because a stranger has come to take away all the little children, including Martin's sister, Cassie, and no one wants to talk about where they have gone. Martin has a choice either to remain in the dubious safety of HM1, or to break out of the suburb into the mysterious land outside.

Tim, Defender of the Earth – Sam Enthoven
When two gargantuan, human-made monsters clash over the future of the human race and the planet, fourteen-year-old Anna Mallahide has a hard time convincing her classmate, Chris Pitman, that he must play any role in the outcome of their epic battle.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox – Mary Pearson
In the not-too-distant future, when biotechnological advances have made synthetic bodies and brains possible but illegal, a seventeen-year-old girl, recovering from a serious accident and suffering from memory lapses, learns a startling secret about her existence.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson

Eva – Peter Dickinson
After a terrible accident, a young girl wakes up to discover that she has been given the body of a chimpanzee.

The Island of Dr. Monroe – H. G. Wells
A man is found afloat in the middle of the ocean--he then finds himself thrust into a world that is inhabited by monstrosities, ruled by a mad man. He soon finds that the only way to survive is to bring madness upon the island of Dr Moreau, a thing he wishes would never have happened.

Being Nikki – Meg Cabot
Studious, socially conscious Emerson Watts learns startling news about the family of Nikki Howard, the teen supermodel into whose body Emerson's brain was transplanted by the nefarious Stark corporation.

The Giver – Lois Lowry
Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.

Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
A monster assembled by a scientist develops a mind of his own as he learns to loathe himself and hate his creator.

The House of the Scorpion – Nancy Farmer
In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patrón, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.

The Clones – Gloria Skurzynski
Having won the Virtual War for the Western Hemisphere Federation, fifteen-year-old Corgan finds himself raising a clone of the young mutant genius who helped him win before dying.

Double Identity - Margaret Peterson Haddix
Thirteen-year-old Bethany's parents have always been overprotective, but when they suddenly drop out of sight with no explanation, leaving her with an aunt she never knew existed, Bethany uncovers shocking secrets that make her question everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.

Point Blank – Anthony Horowitz
Fourteen-year-old Alex continues his work as a spy for the British MI6, investigating an exclusive school for boys in the French Alps.

War of the Clones - Marilyn Kaye
Thirteen-year-old Amy Candler, a clone with superhuman powers, investigates a newspaper report that human clones intend to create a master race.

Beggars in Spain – Nancy Kress
Leisha Camden was genetically modified at birth to require no sleep, and her normal twin Alice is the control. Problems and envy between the sisters mirror those in the larger world, as society struggles to adjust to a growing pool of people who not only have 30 percent more time to work and study than normal humans, but are also highly intelligent and in perfect health.

Dark Angel: After the Dark – Max Allan Collins
In a chaotic world where the lines between good and evil often blur, and violent anarchy and brutal repression become commonplace, secrets can be deadly. So when Max discovers a shattering truth that Logan has kept concealed from her for years, the betrayal threatens the very essence of their trust.

Uglies – Scott Westerfield
Set in a future world in which a compulsory operation at sixteen wipes out physical differences and makes everyone pretty by conforming to an ideal standard of beauty. The "New Pretties" are then free to play and party, while the younger "Uglies" look on enviously and spend the time before their own transformations in plotting mischievous tricks against their elders.

Awesome! Eva is an incredible book. It has one of the most amazing openings that I have ever read. I had to read it twice. The first time was a bit of a jaw dropper. The second was just to let it soak in!

I'm going to try to read Uglies this summer! I've heard wonderful things about it and I'm excited to pick it up (after I finish the other million I have going)

I am reading Beggars in Spain right now1 It is phenominal!

I just finsihed Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress. Wow!

This thought provoking, near future fantasy encourages the reader to explore the repercussions of real and perceived differences among people, especially those who have and those who have not. Written in four short novels, this compilation presents a group of individuals who have been genetically manipulated to need no sleep thus allowing them time to think, work, learn, and achieve. The first novel consists of the novella that won the Hugo award. The others extend discussions involving the development of future problems and prejudices that come with differences.

I would definitely recommend this book. I was blown away by the thought that at some points "haves" might acutally be in such a minority that the "have nots" would really hate them.

Also there is a concept in one of the later novels of an entire American culture in which most of the people are "livers" who live basically to party or relax or whatever. The very few people who want to work are "donkeys" who for whatever reason want to work and provide for the "livers."