Scythe

by Neal Shusterman

Review by the Teen Book Club

WHAT does it take to become a Scythe? This book, which reads like a movie, will answer that question.

WHO will become the Scythe? It will answer that too. Don’t be intimidated by the size of this one, 345 pgs., it reads like a roller coaster with twists and turns that keep you guessing.

Set in the future, Citra and Rowan are chosen to be Scythe Faraday’s apprentices. Neither one covets the job which entails gleaning their fellow man. By “gleaning” they mean killing them. They are chosen to do so to keep the population under control. It’s a bleak necessity in a world that has conquered physical death but failed in its attempts to colonize other planets. Their mentor has a gentle and kind philosophy of what gleaning should be. They will learn that his compassionate philosophy is not the sole point of view among the Scythes.

As you race through this story, set in MidMerica in the future, you will see a light shown on our own time and place. You are introduced to yourself through the lens of the future. You will come to know the person who shows up and has everyone thinking the same thing, “Who has he come for? Will it be me? Or will I be left to suffer the loss.”

WHEN you close this book you will have the answer to the most pressing question- when a perfect world comes with a heavy price- what does it mean for a teenage Scythe?