TPL Teens

Review by Sudipta, member of the Cedarbrae Youth Advisory Group.

If you are a fan of Sci-Fi, Stranger Things and X-files, then this is the book for you. The Winnowing was published by Scholastic in September 2017 and was written by Vikki Vansickle. This book was the winner of the Red Maple portion of the Forest of Reading in 2018. It is a whole different world and full of surprises to stun you along the way and it’s yours to discover.

Check out some of the Red Maple nominees of 2018 that are also available with the Toronto Public Library

The book is about an infertility crisis meaning there was no way women were able to conceive. However, five doctor/scientists had found a way to fix the crisis by injecting women with a substance called SuperGen and later on, injecting their children as well. Not surprisingly and as is the case with most modern medical discoveries, there are side effects for these children as soon as they start going through their adolescence stage. To fix their side effects, or IMPS as they call them in the book, such as bog ears (super hearing) or not feeling temperature, ACES - dangerous nightmares that feel like you are there in the nightmare itself - the five doctors decide to do a procedure called the winnowing. 

So, in the story, Marivic Stone and her best friend, Saren find very unusual the whole process of winnowing. They realize how they are much like test subjects at a laboratory and not patients of a hospital. Another disturbing discovery they make is that at the end of the winnowing, their memories are erased. Marivic and Saren are determined to know the truth behind the whole procedure and what is Super Gen.  

Marivic, when first introduced in the book, seems dependent on others, but as the story progresses, she becomes an independent and confident girl. Saren, Marivic’s best friend is always helping Marivic and is the stronger half of their friendship. And one thing that all the characters had within them was them staying true to their origins even if they were antagonists in the story.

In conclusion, I think this book is phenomenal and it's like a mystery and quest as the characters in the book are on their way to find the truth behind the winnowing, and why there was an infertility crisis in the first place as well as what is SuperGen. There are many dangers along the way. This book will leave you in shock at the end. There were also many twists and turns throughout the story.

Personally, I didn't find it interesting in the beginning but after reading a few chapters of the book, I got hooked, and wanted to find out more about the world Marivic was living in and the truth behind the winnowing and SuperGen and if they were able to succeed in the end. 

The author makes the reader feel as if they are a Marivic, and also manages to create the impression that the reader is literally experiencing all the events listed in the book. Lastly, I think that this book should become a series as I want to know what could happen next.

Also, this book is not just sci-fi as by the end of the book, you detect an underlying theme of a normal teen's life. Conflicts in youth, tiffs with your best friend, coming to terms and working with people, who are not your friends, self-esteem issues. Definitely, a good read for teens.