2011 book 227

Lisa McMann's The Unwanteds
This is one of those MG books with an interesting premise--it's a dystopian society where, at the age of 13, kids are divided into Wanted, Necessary, and Unwanted, and the Unwanteds are sent to be eliminated, only really they're taken to a secret world of creativity and magic NO REALLY THAT IS WHAT THE WORLD IS LIKE--but that's written in such a way that it's cheesy and obvious to adults (and I read--and love--a fair amount of MG/YA books, so I know they can be done well). The writing just feels sloppy sometimes, with a third person omniscient narrator focusing mainly on one kid, but very occasionally breaking into the thoughts of another character out of nowhere (this seems like it must be a shortcut to get to know the other characters, but it doesn't really work, and they all remain ciphers). Plus, like I said, cheesy and obvious. Too bad. I almost didn't finish but wanted to see if my predictions were right, and they all were. B/B-.