Summary:
Maddie has been living in LA away from her father, but still under everyone's watchful eye. Claire and Maddie get all dressed up to go to a dance club, only to have their desires dashed to be going to a virtual club. This resembles a movie theater with everyone staring at a screen and interacting through digital devices. It's scary to see how little person to person contact people have. Maddie stirs things up, which of course, she gets into trouble for. Only this time, she's in deeper than normal. Maddie is sent to a detention center. While in the detention center, she's led to a room filled with digital screens. She's not allowed to talk to anyone and doesn't have any luxuries. She goes for counseling and is introduced to The Cure, a secretive treatment that attacks her mind and quells her desire to rebel. It is terrifying and torturous. The only thing that is keeping her fighting is her love for Justin. Is it enough?
My thoughts:
My favorite book is 1984. It led me to my favorite dystopian genre. I'm 90% more likely to pick up a book that has a dystopian feel to it than anything else. I was originally drawn to Awaken because of this dystopian digital storyline. I enjoyed it, but not even close to as much as I LOVED this book. Unusual for a sequel, I feel like the writing and character development within Middle Ground is superb. I really get to know Maddie. The tortures that she goes through are reminiscent of 1984 as they try to reprogram individuals to fit back into society. Love becomes the only thing to give hope to all of the characters within the book. It's really a great message, complete with flaws and pitfalls. Most dystopians focus on just one hero, but Middle Ground gives you a whole slew of supporting characters that are absolutely necessary. I rarely ever reread novels, but I'm thinking about going through this again. If it wasn't a sequel, I would consider teaching this novel for how to develop characters without just describing every detail. You learn about these characters through their memories (anecdotes) and through other characters. It's very important for other writers to know that you can do character development without telling me everything about the character; however Kacvinsky did have the benefit of already introducing the characters in book one, so the prior knowledge does help in Middle Ground. That's the only thing stopping me from ordering 35 copies and teaching this in my classroom.
Dear Ms. Kacvinsky,
I loved it! Please write me another one. :-)
Thank you!
Maddie has been living in LA away from her father, but still under everyone's watchful eye. Claire and Maddie get all dressed up to go to a dance club, only to have their desires dashed to be going to a virtual club. This resembles a movie theater with everyone staring at a screen and interacting through digital devices. It's scary to see how little person to person contact people have. Maddie stirs things up, which of course, she gets into trouble for. Only this time, she's in deeper than normal. Maddie is sent to a detention center. While in the detention center, she's led to a room filled with digital screens. She's not allowed to talk to anyone and doesn't have any luxuries. She goes for counseling and is introduced to The Cure, a secretive treatment that attacks her mind and quells her desire to rebel. It is terrifying and torturous. The only thing that is keeping her fighting is her love for Justin. Is it enough?
My thoughts:
My favorite book is 1984. It led me to my favorite dystopian genre. I'm 90% more likely to pick up a book that has a dystopian feel to it than anything else. I was originally drawn to Awaken because of this dystopian digital storyline. I enjoyed it, but not even close to as much as I LOVED this book. Unusual for a sequel, I feel like the writing and character development within Middle Ground is superb. I really get to know Maddie. The tortures that she goes through are reminiscent of 1984 as they try to reprogram individuals to fit back into society. Love becomes the only thing to give hope to all of the characters within the book. It's really a great message, complete with flaws and pitfalls. Most dystopians focus on just one hero, but Middle Ground gives you a whole slew of supporting characters that are absolutely necessary. I rarely ever reread novels, but I'm thinking about going through this again. If it wasn't a sequel, I would consider teaching this novel for how to develop characters without just describing every detail. You learn about these characters through their memories (anecdotes) and through other characters. It's very important for other writers to know that you can do character development without telling me everything about the character; however Kacvinsky did have the benefit of already introducing the characters in book one, so the prior knowledge does help in Middle Ground. That's the only thing stopping me from ordering 35 copies and teaching this in my classroom.
Dear Ms. Kacvinsky,
I loved it! Please write me another one. :-)
Thank you!
