Hello TBF readers! My name is
Leah Schaffer and I am a graduate student in the literacy department at
Nazareth College in Rochester, NY. After
graduate school I plan to become an inclusive classroom teacher or a literacy
specialist. I am very excited to share
with you some information on my new favorite book. This book is The Program by Suzanne Young. The
Program is a young adult fiction book that is part of the Program series and falls into the
science fiction genre.
The
first time I read The Program I
choose it because I become extremely engaged in science fiction texts. Specifically at the time, my favorite series
to read was the Divergent series
written by Veronica Roth. I had truly
enjoyed the whole dystopian and young love themes that were presented
throughout the series. As a result I decided to find another series that I
would enjoy to read just as much. So one
day when I was at the library I saw this book that had an almost all white
cover with some yellow standing out.
This drew me to the book right away.
Instantly after I read the short summary, I was hooked.
The Program focuses on a teenage girl named
Sloane as she attempts to remain true to herself, despite living in a chaotic
and dystopian society. It is chaotic
because people are fearful of what they are calling the suicide epidemic. In order to end this epidemic “the program”
is created. This is a program where any
teen that appears depressed will be taken away from their family and friends,
in order to be rehabilitated in an institution.
So I bet know you are thinking “what is so
wrong with that as long as the person is getting help and their life is being
saved?” Well here is where the book gets
really interesting. When a teen enters
the program, their memories are gradually taken away from them until they
cannot remember their friends and important life events such as their first
love. The program takes these memories
away because they are seen as potentially harmful to the teens. However, with no memories the teenagers
return home lost and confused. This is
why Sloane attempts to do everything in her power to avoid admittance into the
program. Doesn’t this book sound
extremely unique and interesting?
I really
enjoyed this book because it was super easy to relate to the characters as I
read. As a reader I progressed through the book and witnessed Sloane flashback
to important memories in her life and saw her make new memories. However, as the book continued I then
witnessed Sloane slowly start to lose her memories and herself, until I
eventually knew Sloane better than she did herself.
I would
like to offer a warning however to future readers of this book or series. The struggles that people with depression
face are explicitly represented in this book. For example, the following quote
is from one of these scenes which occurs right before Sloane enters the program
during chapter fourteen of the first section, “I’M CHEWING ON MY LIP AS I
DRIVE, TEARING AT THE flesh, wincing when it burns. My lips are chapped from crying in my car day
after day, but I don’t care. My hair is
knotted and uncombed.” This scene
illustrates the intense emotions that Sloane faces throughout most of the
book. At the same time this scene shows
us how actual people struggling with depression feel.
Despite the fact that this book represented
people with depression as people that need to be taken out of society until
they are “fixed”, scenes like this one help us connect with the characters and
gain a better understanding for people struggling with depression. Basically, I
think this book can help readers feel the opposite way about how to help
support people with depression. Overall
I highly recommend that anyone looking for an engaging and unique book read The Program by Suzanne Young.
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