Genre: YA Dystopian
Published: July 1, 2012
Pages: 320
Synopsis
In twelve-year-old Taemon’s city, everyone has a power called psi—the ability to move and manipulate objects with their minds. When Taemon loses his psi in a traumatic accident, he must hide his lack of power by any means possible. But a humiliating incident at a sports tournament exposes his disability, and Taemon is exiled to the powerless colony.
The "dud farm" is not what Taemon expected, though: people are kind and open, and they actually seem to enjoy using their hands to work and play and even comfort their children. Taemon adjusts to his new life quickly, making friends and finding unconditional acceptance.
But gradually he discovers that for all its openness, there are mysteries at the colony, too—dangerous secrets that would give unchecked power to psi wielders if discovered.
When Taemon unwittingly leaks one of these secrets, will he have the courage to repair the damage—even if it means returning to the city and facing the very people who exiled him?
The "dud farm" is not what Taemon expected, though: people are kind and open, and they actually seem to enjoy using their hands to work and play and even comfort their children. Taemon adjusts to his new life quickly, making friends and finding unconditional acceptance.
But gradually he discovers that for all its openness, there are mysteries at the colony, too—dangerous secrets that would give unchecked power to psi wielders if discovered.
When Taemon unwittingly leaks one of these secrets, will he have the courage to repair the damage—even if it means returning to the city and facing the very people who exiled him?
Review
I received a copy of the audiobook version of this book through Audiobook Sync's summer reading program for teenagers with no expectations for anything whatsoever. This is my honest review.
This is a dystopian featuring a society that has developed telekinetic powers, powers that they use for literally everything. They don't even write with pen and paper or use their hands to put clothes on. And like most societies, a religion has evolved around their abilities. I don't fully understand their brand of religion/astrology at this point, but it is pretty clearly a big deal and it seems to actually affect their lives and possibly abilities. This was easy for me to accept because I already sort of buy into astrology. I mean, I don't put a ton of stock into it, but I do find it fascinating, so I've read quite a bit about it, enough to notice when it's pretty accurate at least for myself, and in the story, it's pretty accurate about the characters.
So Taemon has special abilities that he has to keep hidden and not use ever because his parents fear that their religious leaders would take advantage of him or kill him, I'm not really sure which. But because he's a teenager, he uses them anyway, sometimes. He's just careful to hide it when he does. It took me until almost the end of the story to figure out why it's important for him to hide his special abilities, because it really just didn't make sense to me for the longest time. I love it when a book keeps me thinking about things like that instead of just spoon-feeding me all the information up front.
There was so much about this world that was different and fantastic and I want to spend more time immersing myself in it because there is still so much to learn and see and do. And I need to know how things work out for Taemon in the end, because this is just the first book in a series. So I'm definitely going to have to read more of them when I can find the time.
5 out of 5 stars. - Katie
This is a dystopian featuring a society that has developed telekinetic powers, powers that they use for literally everything. They don't even write with pen and paper or use their hands to put clothes on. And like most societies, a religion has evolved around their abilities. I don't fully understand their brand of religion/astrology at this point, but it is pretty clearly a big deal and it seems to actually affect their lives and possibly abilities. This was easy for me to accept because I already sort of buy into astrology. I mean, I don't put a ton of stock into it, but I do find it fascinating, so I've read quite a bit about it, enough to notice when it's pretty accurate at least for myself, and in the story, it's pretty accurate about the characters.
So Taemon has special abilities that he has to keep hidden and not use ever because his parents fear that their religious leaders would take advantage of him or kill him, I'm not really sure which. But because he's a teenager, he uses them anyway, sometimes. He's just careful to hide it when he does. It took me until almost the end of the story to figure out why it's important for him to hide his special abilities, because it really just didn't make sense to me for the longest time. I love it when a book keeps me thinking about things like that instead of just spoon-feeding me all the information up front.
There was so much about this world that was different and fantastic and I want to spend more time immersing myself in it because there is still so much to learn and see and do. And I need to know how things work out for Taemon in the end, because this is just the first book in a series. So I'm definitely going to have to read more of them when I can find the time.
5 out of 5 stars. - Katie
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About the Author
In third grade, Lana wrote in her autobiography that she wanted to be a mother, a writer, and the church organist. Two out of three ain't bad! Her work has appeared in Highlights, High Five, Spider, Babybug, The Friend, and Chicken Soup for the Child's Soul. Her first novel, Freakling, will hit the shelves in October. Lana lives in Richmond, Virginia.
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