Unwind Book Post #2

In the science fiction novel, Unwind by Neil Shusterman, three kids that are scheduled to be unwound at a harvest camp struggle to survive until eighteen to prevent their bodies from being taken apart. Throughout the story, Risa, Connor and Lev run from juvey cops to save their body parts. Later on, Lev a tithe, becomes rebellious and runs on his own. Risa and Connor now have only themselves to fend for. Until they are eighteen years of age, their only reason for living is to be unwound.

In my group discussion, we talked about the differences between Roland the antagonist of the novel and Connor the protagonist. Roland’s strive for leadership has made him look to Connor as the biggest obstacle he must overcome to obtain the role as the leader. Another topic that we discussed was the confusion between Tyler and Cyrus’s parents living next to each other.

After Lev turned Risa and Connor into the juvey cops, he finds a new person to tag along with. Cyrus claims he is a “run-to” instead of a runaway. He must go to Joplin, Missouri to take care of business that he doesn’t know what is. When he was younger, he was hit by a car and had part of his brain replaced by another kid’s. As Lev and Cyrus get closer to their destination, Cyrus begins to act differently showing a presence that isn’t the same as the one he gave off before. Cyrus was being possessed. When they get to Joplin, he sees his two dads outside of their house, a couple houses down is the parents of Tyler, the part of Cyrus’s brain. We were confused about how Cyrus’s parents could be in Joplin at the same time as Tyler’s because if Cyrus was a “run to” wouldn’t he be leaving the place he started out from? If this is true then Cyrus would be leaving his home running to Joplin. Although this part of the story isn’t as important, it still leaves our group questioning how this could happen.

Roland’s troubles with Connor has gone on since they have met. When Connor is accepted by the Admiral, Roland finds his power lowering. Now Connor is in charge and people look at him as a leader.

For the last part of Unwind, I am excited to see what happens to Connor, Risa, Roland and the many other Unwinds as they get caught by Juvey cops.