Birthmarked <small>by Caragh M. O'Brien</small>

Sometime in late 2009 I caught a YA Lit bug and since then I really haven't read much else.

Thinking back I can't quite remember what set off this little jag -- possibly the Percy Jackson series -- but I have been blessed ever since to have read some really great fiction... including:

Maze Runner
Summer of the Death Warriors
Notes From the Dog
Knife of Never Letting Go
The Gardener
Fire Will Fall ...

To this list I'm adding Caragh M. O'Brien's new book, Birthmarked. It's a marvelous, thought provoking read that kept me up late into the night.

The story is set in the future where global warming has changed the landscape of the world. Gaia, our heroine, lives with her parents in a low tech environment in a town like one might have run across in the early 1900s. Her father is a weaver, and Gaia is following in her mother's steps and becoming a mid-wife. They are poor but not starving. And their society lies just to the other side of a wall that separates them as have-nots, from the 'haves' of The Enclave.

The Enclave is a place which people with more opportunity and foresight devised a society with a zero-carbon-footprint. They have technology but it is limited.

You might think this book might devolve into a struggle between the two groups over food, clothing and access to technology. But in fact, the plot revolves around genetics. [Gaia in the role of midwife is required to assist the first three babies born every month to families inside The Enclave.] I won't say more for fear of giving away any of the surprises that I enjoyed, except to say that Gaia is thrust into the center a whirlwind of political dangers that leave her questioning everything about her world.

Talking Points:::
Birthmarked is a 'Medium' read, on the Light-Medium-Hard scale. It certainly has some thought provoking ideas, but it's quickly paced.

Gaia is strong but not superhuman heroine. I applaud Ms. O'Brien for not making her 16 year-old character, a 36 year old woman in disguise. Gaia doesn't know it all, and she makes the mistakes an older woman might not.

If you liked "The Hunger Games" or "The Pretties" you should check this one out.

Pam
Somewhere in the X-burbs