Pure

Pure is the first in a new dystopian trilogy that seems made for teen readers; film rights have already been sold.

Julianna Baggott has written a few books for young readers, but is best known for adult literary fiction and poetry. I had a chance to hear her speak at ALA Midwinter in January. She has a 16-year-old daughter who pretty much hates everything her mother writes. Except this. Baggott figures that is because the teen years ARE dystopic.

Laini Taylor (author of Daughter of Smoke and Bone) wrote about it wonderfully on her blog last week. The Huffington Post reviewer recommends Pure to readers of The Hunger Games.

Check out The Lost Archives of Pure, a British site that teens will enjoy exploring.

BAGGOTT, Julianna. Pure. 431p. Grand Central. 2012. Tr $25.99. ISBN 978-1-4555-0306-3. LC 2011046209.  

Adult/High School–Baggott, also known as N.E. Bode, delivers an often disturbing but emotionally distancing dystopic adventure. In a post-apocalyptic future, a small protected society lives within a dome and everyone else lives outside. These “wretches” range from scarred to inhuman, the result of a nanotechnology-laced atomic detonation. Heroine Pressia, 16, has a doll’s head in place of one fist; revolutionary Bradwell has fluttering birds embedded in his back. Tensions abound in their world; the military OSR takes everyone over 16, food is scarce and health failing, and people either wait for the Dome to save them or fight against it. Meanwhile Partridge, a teenaged Pure from the Dome, is finding that things are not as he believed, and his journey to find the truth will take him into the outside world. Vivid descriptions–the once-suburban fierce mothers, stunted children fused to their bodies; the Dusts, people fused with the earth–will haunt readers long after the book is over. But the pacing is sometimes glacial, and it’s hard to relate to Pressia, the most prevalent narrative perspective (though most of the other perspectives are also teens). This has great potential as a crossover title (and might be mistaken for straight up YA), so while it doesn’t have the pulse-pounding appeal of crowd-pleasers like The Hunger Games, many teens will be willing to muscle past the slow parts and enjoy the complexities of plot and world; the fact that it’s first in a trilogy will only make the patient readers happier.–Karyn N. Silverman, LREI (Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School), New York City

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