Spliced

by Jon McGoran Narrated by Sophie Amoss

Overview

Sixteen-year-old Jimi knows people change, but nothing could prepare her for what's about to happen to her best friend, Del. Del is obsessed with becoming a chimera: a person who pays back-alley geneticists, known as "genies," to illegally splice animal genes into their own. The resulting physical changes have scared lawmakers into drafting legislation declaring chimeras officially nonpersons, so when Del goes missing, Jimi is desperate to find him before he alters himself forever.

As she tries to save him, Jimi must face down unscrupulous people and risk her own life, all while knowing that if getting spliced is the choice Del has made, it means he's leaving her behind forever.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"a very believable future seen through the eyes of a believable white teen for whom discrimination on the basis of visual difference has suddenly become real. This nightmare study in manufactured prejudice will resonate with many teens . . .  Timely, thrilling, and more than a little scary."—Kirkus Reviews

"McGoran extrapolates a believable, all-too-relevant future, but he wisely focuses on Jimi’s transformation from someone aware of but untouched by discrimination into a willing activist with an emotional connection. McGoran doesn’t skimp on the action, either, which is suspenseful and scary . . . This is a timely, thought-provoking start to a probable series."—Booklist

"Genetically modified teens forced to make life-and-death decisions in a modified world as a hideous new form of hatred poisons society. Spliced grabs you by the throat and won't let go."—Laurie Halse Anderson, internationally acclaimed New York Times bestselling author

"A mind-bending science fiction adventure into a disturbingly familiar, near future world. Characters you care about and a plot that will send chills up your spine, Spliced has it all!"—Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Rot & Ruin and Mars One

"Intense and provocative, Spliced questions whether humanity is defined by our genetic make-up or our compassion. The haunting themes McGoran has created will resonate long after the final page is turned."—Joelle Charbonneau, New York Times bestselling author of The Testing and Dividing Eden

Kirkus Reviews

2017-07-17
In a near future of gene modification, personhood is political and not just for the modified.In an America that has survived several major flu epidemics and where only the cities have easy electrical power and only the rich have anything passing for internet or cell service, the interested (with enough money) can have their genes altered and change their appearances. Those who are "spliced" become chimeras, humans with animal DNA. The changes are somatic (rather than germinal), so the spliced have characteristics of the animal of their choice but don't pass on traits. Nevertheless, Howard Wells, an unscrupulous millionaire and politician-wannabe, has seen the chance to play on the public's fears, and he pushes a Pennsylvania state law to make the chimeras nonpersons, and other states soon follow suit. High school junior Jimi has no desire to get spliced, but her best friend, Del, despite his repressive father's wishes, wants nothing more. When Del vanishes just after becoming a chimera and Wells' law passes, Jimi sets out to find her friend with the help of spliced acquaintances in a country where they are suddenly legally less than human. Adult thriller author McGoran creates a very believable future seen through the eyes of a believable white teen for whom discrimination on the basis of visual difference has suddenly become real. This nightmare study in manufactured prejudice will resonate with many teens who see themselves as part of a marginalized group, especially in the era of Trump. Timely, thrilling, and more than a little scary. (Science fiction. 14-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169608434
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	09/29/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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