Title: All Good Children
Author: Catherine Austen
Rating: B+/A-
Set in a dystopian future (can you imagine anything else from a YA novel?), All Good Children follows the story of a teenage boy named Alex. At first, he enjoys a relatively privileged lifestyle among the country's wealthiest residents; however, everything changes when the government starts injecting students with a mind-controlling serum that changes the entire student body to well-behaved "zombies". Fortunately, Max and his friend are able to escape the injections - thanks to some help from Max's mother (who is a nurse.) Now, Max and his family must hide among the zombies while formulating an escape from the watchful eye of Big Brother.
The Good: Although this book is difficult to get into (I really have to force myself to read the first 100 pages!), the second half more than made up for the slow start. I found this to be an interesting story - and it's nice to see a YA author that can actually tell a story in one single volume!
The Bad: As I mentioned above, the only real negative aspect of this book was the slow start. I also found the references to 1984 and "pod people" a little too obvious. However, overall, this was a very enjoyable novel.
