Set in the not-so-distant future when todays teens are granparents to a new generation of teens, readers will find themselves in a disturbing world set after the Heartland War. It is a civil war that resulted from the ideological differences between conservatives and liberals, particularly in relation to issues such as abortion and gay maarriage. The war ended with the Bill of Life. Now, abortion is illegal, and same-sex mmarriage [sic] is allowed. The variable spelling makes it different from tradtional marriage

Here is The Bill of Life, as taken from the novel:

"The Second Civil War, also know as 'The Heartland War," was a long and bloody conflict fought over a single issue.

"To end the war, a set of constitutional amendments known as 'The Bill of Life' was passed

"It satisfied both the Pro-life and the Pro-choice armies.

"The Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen.

"However, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, a parent may choose to retrospectively 'abort' a child....

"....on the condition that the child's life doesn't 'technically' end.

"The process by which a child is both terminated and yet kept alive is called 'unwinding.'

"Unwinding is now a common, and accepted practice in society."

When a teen is unwound, all of his or her body is recycled into transplants. The disabled, the sick, and the injured cannot be unwound.

People are also able to just trop off their babies on someone else's doorstep, and the new parents are required, by law, to keep the baby. This is viewed to be an alternative to abortion.

The story is told from the perspectives of three teens that are about to be unwound, each for a different reason. Connor is basically a good kid, but a spate of rebellion keeps him in trouble. Lev is from a family that believes in tithing even when it comes to sacrificing one tenth of their brood of 10 kids. Risa is an orphan who is being unwound because funding cuts mean that some of the kids need to be let loose.

Their three stories weave in at out as their mutual paths lead them across the country, forcing them and the reader to confront many of the challenging issues of our time. It is a typical dystopian novel that presents the idea that simplified solutions to problems are not always a better alternatives to what they were designed to replace.

There is no question that the storyline is disturbing, but it is presented in such a way and with incredibly well-developed characterizations that the reader cannot helpf but feel strong emotion for what is happening. Even if you want to put the book aside because you are so disturbed, you can't help but continue reading because you want to know what is going to happen to these kids and the people they share their world with.

While in some instances, the coincidences in the novel tie many of the primary and secondary characters together too nicely, it almost seems necessary in order to feel the full power of the story. It is also interesting to see the idea that Mother Nature is not the only thing that can be self correcting over time. The same could be true for society as a whole.