Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful

Starred review from October 15, 2018
These six linked tales delve into the question of ethics in scientific and medical human modification. Along the way, they loosely follow the life, career, and afterlife of Tad Tadd, a reverend who popularizes a movement against changing corporeal forms and then, after a family tragedy, wholeheartedly embraces people’s right to modify their bodies as they choose. The book begins with semi-identical twins Julia and Evan, whose organs are not growing fast enough to keep either alive; when Julia goes into a vegetative state, doctors advise the twins’ parents to harvest Julia’s organs for Evan, and Tadd pays a visit to the family in the hospital, calling the boy “a life-devouring creature.” Another section follows a teen, significantly modified following a car accident, who hears Tadd’s message on the radio. As the stories move further into the future, Dayton (Seeker) explores how each generation slowly blurs the lines between human, machine, and animal. Part cautionary tale and part ode to the inventive human spirit, Dayton’s brilliant collection of stories is best described as a scientific Twilight Zone. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House.

Starred review from October 15, 2018
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Six stories meld perfectly together into one complex, eerily plausible narrative in Dayton's newest novel. The book thoroughly integrates scientific advancements of the present and explores the achievements?and horrors?possible in the future if these advancements are built upon. In this sf world, humans are obsessed with perfection and becoming more of everything: stronger, faster, more intelligent, longer-lived, more beautiful, more resilient. Dayton allows humanity to accomplish such feats in her collection of stories, but the results aren't the picture-perfect image most would imagine. Just as the pursuit of power can lead to malfeasance, the pursuit of perfection can foster corruption. Dhonielle Clayton explores similar themes in her fantasy novel The Belles (2018), looking at the importance of perfection through the lens of beauty in a world where people have unchecked means of remaking their physical selves. Dayton takes this a step further as she paints a gut-wrenching future where people use unlimited power to alter literally any and everything about themselves. This speculative, thought-provoking novel will take readers on a frightening, remarkable journey through humanity's past, present, and possible future.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2019
How will genetic modification integrate itself into society going forward? This collection of six interconnected stories, each one set slightly further into the future than the last, imagines teenagers facing different stages of technological advancement and the subsequent questions it raises regarding what it means to love, fear, learn, and be human. The stories cohere into a thoughtful dystopian novel examining technology and the human experience.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from October 1, 2018
Six interwoven stories, each set farther out in time, envision the human future: fantastic but recognizable--maybe inevitable.In the near future, Evan, 15, a semi-identical twin, struggles to accept that his life depends on organs harvested from his beloved sister's failing body. A few years later, Milla, 16, conceals the extent to which her body was rebuilt after a car accident, acutely aware of prejudice against those who've undergone such procedures, until a disastrous first date with her longtime crush who's heard the Rev. Tadd's radio harangues against altering the human body, even to save lives. Years later, the charismatic religious zealot undergoes a startling change of heart. As genetic manipulation accelerates beyond cosmetic enhancements and lifesaving surgeries, animal and plant genes are modified, then used to modify human beings. Limbs can be added and the mortally ill frozen until their ailments are curable. For-profit enterprises, in the U.S. especially, compete in a laissez-faire free-for-all. Russia and countries behind the "Genetic Curtain" prohibit tampering with human DNA, instead transforming a burgeoning convict population into cyborgs who endure painfully inhumane conditions. While institutions worldwide, public and private, ignore ethical dilemmas, several vivid characters prove capable of heroism and generosity. Final story excepted, most major human characters appear white.Imaginative and incisive, this asks readers to ponder what makes us human and if we'll know when we've crossed the line, becoming something else. (author's note) (Science fiction.14-adult)

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Starred review from November 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-This collection of six short science fiction stories is wonderfully imaginative and disturbingly taps into a future that is very possible. Each of the entries explores a conceivable application of human gene editing or body modification. With every subsequent vignette set a little further in time than the last, the collection as a whole paints a future history of humankind. The stories are loosely connected by elements of an evangelical religion that forms around body modification, the zealous founder of which is the only common character throughout. In the style of Netflix's Black Mirror, Dayton uses fiction to ask powerful and intriguing questions about the possibilities of real advancements in genetic science. What are the ethics of organ transplantation? What if the parents of "designer babies" aren't happy with the product? How could genetic modifications create a class system and affect a dangerous power imbalance? Who gets to make the choices? The author expertly creates a vivid world and fleshed-out characters. She adeptly moves from a tale about a sibling relationship to another about awkward teenage embarrassment and revenge and to the life of a merboy genius, and finally to a star-crossed romance set in a futuristic society that is untouched by genetic enhancements. The writing and the plotting are consistent across the collection. VERDICT Compelling and terrifying, this volume is science fiction at its finest. Recommended for first purchase.-Liz Overberg, Zionsville Community High School, IN

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.