Book
Birthmarked
Record details
- ISBN: 9780312674724 (trade pbk.) :
- ISBN: 9781596435698 (hc.) :
-
Physical Description:
362 p. : map ; 22 cm.
print - Edition: 1st ed.
- Publisher: New York : Roaring Brook Press, c2010.
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Midwives -- Fiction Genetic engineering -- Fiction |
| Genre: | Dystopias. Science fiction. Young adult fiction. |
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Available copies
- 8 of 8 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 0 of 0 copies available at Creston Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 8 total copies.
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
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- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2010 February #2
It's been 300 years since Lake Michigan became Unlake Michigan; the "cool age" is only hazily known to residents of Wharfton, a small village that sits alongside the walled city of the Enclave. Gaia is 16 and works in Western Sector Three with her mother delivering babies, "advancing" the first three per month to live a better life inside the city. It's a wrenching routine Gaia doesn't question until her parents are mysteriously arrested by Enclave authorities. Gaia's rescue attempt is fraught with perilâthe burn scar on her face marks her as a "freak" who would never be allowed into the Enclave's exclusive gene poolâand soon she herself is tossed into a cell with other female physicians. Although the setup suggests speculative fiction, O'Brien's concerns are corporeal; her impulsive and spirited heroine (who even resists, yes, romance) is the kind readers adore. The facts behind inbreeding and the numerous birthing scenes will give this an added appeal to science-minded teens. Continual revelations push this toward an ending that hints at more to come. Copyright 2010 Booklist Reviews. - Horn Book Guide Reviews : Horn Book Guide Reviews 2010 Fall
As apprentice to her midwife mother, Gaia is expected to "advance" a quota of babies for adoption into the Enclave. When her parents are taken for questioning about the adoptions, Gaia and a rebel soldier challenge the Enclave's authority. With high tension and higher stakes, this dystopian thriller projects a bleak future, but one in which individual choices do have great power. Copyright 2010 Horn Book Guide Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2010 March #2
A gated community on the banks of a dried-up Great Lake. A disfigured teen midwife. A baby quota. And, in grand dystopic tradition, the story of the moment the idyllic dream shatters and the ugly truth is revealed. Within the walls life is easy, but those outside live in poverty (although the descriptions are rather bucolic) and must trade their infants for food, water and privilege. When the Enclave arrests her mother, Gaia must penetrate the walls and foment a revolution even as she falls for the Protectorat's son. Despite the occasionally formulaic plot points, this offers some original elements: Genetics and medical knowledge play a large role. Serious science-fiction fans will find the world confusing (what is the source of raw resources? where do they manufacture things? how exactly are the films that opiate the masses being produced?), but most will enjoy the engaging heroine and the struggle against a corrupt government. In the end, Gaia must flee to fight another day in the sequels; most readers will contentedly follow. (Science fiction. 12 & up) Copyright Kirkus 2010 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. - Library Media Connection : Library Media Connection Reviews 2010 May/June
From the first chapter entitled ?The Baby Quota,? the author has the reader?s attention. 16-year-old Gaia has to deliver a baby by herself because her midwife mother is out on another call. Worse still, she has to turn the baby over to the Enclave, which claims the first three babies born each month in this poverty stricken village outside the Wall. Gaia discovers that her mother and father have been arrested, and she is given a secret code. She rescues a baby from its dead mother, and begins her struggle with the concept of whether the Enclave is a good thing or a terrible evil. All of society is divided into color-coded castes in this dystopian world which is governed by a monarchy. Gaia meets Captain Leon Grey, the handsome, adopted son of the royal family, and learns that he was an advanced baby himself; she would probably have been advanced too except for her ugly birthmark which has made her an outcast. This novel is plot driven and will appeal to a teen audience on several lev ls. Readers will be looking forward to the next novel in what will almost certainly be a popular series. Recommended. Barbara Foraker, Librarian, Cherokee High School, Rogersville, Tennessee ¬ 2010 Linworth Publishing, Inc. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2010 February #3
In her first YA novel, O'Brien creates a dystopian future in which to explore complex issues of morality and survival. In a world rocked by climate change, the Enclave is a much-needed bastion of civilization, and many of those who live outside its walls serve it in one fashion or another. As a midwife apprenticed to her mother, 16-year-old Gaia Stone is expected, like any other midwife, to bring the first three babies she delivers each month to the Enclave to satisfy its demands for new citizens. When her parents are taken for questioning by the Enclave, Gaia takes over for her mother, even though she's not entirely comfortable following orders unquestioningly anymore. Her quest to track down and save her parents leads her into the Enclave itself, where she befriends the handsome Captain Grey, a man with his own secrets, and discovers the unsettling truths behind the Enclave's need for children. Though predictable in places and unconvincing in others, this science fiction adventure is a brisk and sometimes provocative read, thanks to solid pacing, a resourceful heroine, and a few surprise twists. Ages 12âup. (Apr.)
[Page 132]. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2010 May
Gr 7â10âIn a dystopian world of the future, apprentice midwife Gaia, who has served the Enclave faithfully along with her parents, is thrust suddenly into a crisis. She delivers her first baby independently of her midwife mother and takes it to the Enclave inside the Wall as the first of her monthly quota of three newborns. Then her parents are arrested and she learns that they will soon be executed. Gaia springs into action and smuggles herself into the Enclave to rescue them. What follows is an exciting, almost breakneck adventure, as Gaia tries to discover what information the Enclave wants from her and her mother and tries to save both of them from prison. Along the way there is a mildly romantic turn to the story as Gaia develops a friendship and attraction to one of the soldiers, a man with a mysterious past. This world is one in which a small society, composed of an elite inside the Wall and a subservient class outside, is completely cut off from knowledge of anyone or anything outside of its borders. The rulers are authoritarian and mysterious and resemble a monarchy rather than the strictly ideological communitarian system in Lois Lowry's The Giver (Houghton, 1993). The cliff-hanger ending sets up the action for a sequel. Readers who enjoy adventures with a strong heroine standing up to authority against the odds will enjoy this compelling tale.âSue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City
[Page 120]. Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information. - Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews : VOYA Reviews 2010 April
Gaia Stone has trained all her life with her mother to become a midwife, one of the most vital positions in the service of the Enclave. Having delivered her first baby alone because of her mother's absence, Gaia's simple understanding of her society falls apart. Her parents have been arrested as traitors to the Enclave, and she is alone. Worse, the Protectorat believes that she is the only one who can decipher the secret encoded ribbon her father, the tailor, left her. Imprisoned in Enclave, Gaia must unravel a tangled web of blood relations, with the future of the Enclave's population at stakes. For generations, the first three babies born in any month have been delivered by a midwife, but because records were not kept, inbreeding has been the result, with devastating and deadly consequences for the privileged and beautiful few who dwell in the Enclave. Solving the mystery of who belongs to whom will save Gaia's life, but at the cost of continuing the Enclave's dominion. She escapes from the Protectorat's control, but not before she loses her loved ones O'Brien's world is reminiscent of Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Delacorte, Press, 2009), a similarly dystopian world where the heroine quickly faces dangers and enemies alone in a hostile environment. Well-written and fast-paced, this novel explores several topics, including friendship and the will to fight against all odds. The abrupt ending presages a possible sequel.âEtienne Vallée 3Q 3P J S Copyright 2010 Voya Reviews.
