MARTians

Some back story: feel free to skip to the next paragraph for a review. A couple of years ago, I read a book called [b:Scorch 1385237 Scorch A.D. Nauman https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348899056s/1385237.jpg 1375274]Scorch (Nauman). Anyway, I've been chasing books like it ever since. They are dystopic: a future with a corporation controlled society. My quest has led to some awful reads (cough A Highly Unlikely Scenario *cough Notes From the Internet Apocalypse * cough). MARTians is the opposite of those clunkers. It's also one of the best books I have read this year. Woolston's writing reminds me of George Saunders (and we all know how much I adore Saunders). Let me just say that this is not a typical YA novel at all. There is no “special snowflake” who can be the “only one” to take down a totalitarian society. There are no love triangles. Zip, nada. It is awesome. Someone from the Printz committee, please pay attention. The crossover appeal here is HIGH.Zoe, used to being last because of her last name, is living in a world in which people mostly work for Allmart or QMart. Her new existence is pretty much company store (she owes the store more money for her uniform than she can make with a full time paycheck). Life consists of cereal and living with a ragtag “family” in an abandoned strip mall. There are shades of Feed (Anderson) here. It reminded me of Scorch. I reminded me of Saunders. But it stands on it's own merit. I was truly, emotionally involved. Now I'm off to see what else Woolston has written and check them out.