This month’s selection was written in the 1980s, before YA books became popular. It is an excellent example of the quality of YA books.
Peter Dickinson’s Eva explores such themes as what it is to be human, animal rights vs ownership, corporate exploitation, overzealous media, and survival and evolution of a species.
It may sound like a heavy book, but it is a short, quick read.
March 31st, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Because the book predates the World Wide Web, I did some browsing reviews after reading the book. Two things stood out.
One commented that Mary E. Pearson’s The Adoration of Jenna Fox was derivative of Eva, so he/she wasn’t interested in reading Pearson’s book. While the memories are transplanted in a similar way, the rest of the stories are quite different. One is planted in a chimp’s body, the other in a body full of transplants, possibly cloned parts.
The other comment referred to adults reacting negatively to the story, because they identified too much with the mother. I am a mom myself, and while I doubt I would agree personally to the transplant of my own child, I totally empathized with Eva. Her character is plenty strong to get passed the initial discomfort regarding her mother’s feelings.