The Selection
by Kiera Cass
HarperTeen, 2012 (available 4/24/12)
In this highly anticipated vision of the future, the United
States is no longer a democracy.
Monarchy has returned and a caste system is now in place with social
groups rated one (highest) to eight (lowest).
Straight shooting and musically talented America Singer and her large family
are fives, artisan class. When The
Selection is announced, a reality show to find teenage Prince Maxon a wife and
a future Queen, America feels obligated to enter. Entrants are well compensated for their participation, and
her family can use the money. But
America is madly in love with her secret boyfriend, Aspen, a six, servant
class, and for the obvious reasons is hesitant to enter. Aspen clears the way when he breaks up
with her instead of proposing; his pride can’t bear to drag her down a caste
level. Soon America is flying off
to the palace with 34 other contestants, one from each province, to compete to
win the heart and hand of Prince Maxon.
But things in the palace are not as they seem to be on a TV screen;
there are frequent attacks by rebels, not to mention learning to navigate the
new royal caste expectations, trying to make friends in a tinderbox, and trying
to fall in love with a broken heart.
This book has high pop appeal (a TV pilot has already been filmed), and
should find its way into all YA collections with high demand anticipated from
girls (11-16) and adults when the pilot airs.
Guys – I think we can all cop to the obvious. A summary of the basics of this plot is
like a recipe for Paperblog kryptonite. It’s basically The Bachelor meets The Prince and Me
meets a beauty pageant meets a girly version of dystopia meets the CW meets
fantasies of Kate Middleton and Prince William’s wedding, shaken, and served in
a glass labeled: Strong Potential for Highly Addictive Case of the
Terribles. HOW COULD I SAY
NO? Now, before I go much further,
I’ll make a disclaimer: I have not
actually finished this book (my copy is not a complete one), and the origins of
my copy, while legit and legal, are slightly not directly from the publisher. Let’s just say the bidding war paid off
for all of our curiosity about this buzzed about book (and don’t worry, HarperTeen legal department, I’m not passing it on...unless of course you want to send me a
real ARC, which I’d be delighted to pass on to my many, always eager to read
fun things teenage students…).
Now that we’ve cleared that up and all the boys have stopped
reading, let’s debrief.
