Unwind

12/10/2020

This is currently a book that is an approved part of VBCPS 9th grade curriculum. This "short film" was used to introduce the book at one school. I've received complaints from multiple parents at multiple schools who have concerns about their children reading this book. I've read multiple reviews of the book but attached is the most in depth literary review. I've also spoken to a teacher who has read this book (but said would never assign it to students) and the teacher said the review is very accurate.

Here is one excerpt from the book review: Kids at the harvest camp are thrilled to meet Connor, whose reputation precedes him. Risa is assigned to play with the band, which plays on top of the Chop Shop, the building where unwinding takes place. She feels like it’s unethical to watch kids meet their end, but Dalton, a bass player, insists it’s the only way to stay alive. Lev is at the harvest camp too, but for a very different reason. After leaving the Graveyard on the “work call,” people praised Lev and replaced his blood with explosive liquid. He, Mai, and Blaine are now clappers, and plan to blow up the camp. One evening, Roland tries to strangle Connor, but he can’t go through with it. Counselors take him to be unwound the next afternoon. The experience is horrific: he’s awake and terrified the entire time. Word gets out that Connor is slated to go next. Lev insists to Mai and Blaine that they have to act soon so they can save Connor. Lev is late getting to his spot, however, and the Chop Shop explodes just after Connor steps inside. Risa and the band fall when the roof collapses. Though Lev is in excruciating emotional pain, he can’t bring himself to clap, and instead stanches Connor’s bleeding and leads the rescue effort. Connor wakes up in the hospital and learns that nurses have given him a new identity—that of a member of a wealthy local family—which saves him from unwinding and also made him eligible for emergency transplants for his eye and his arm. To his horror, Connor realizes that he received Roland’s arm. He finds Risa and learns that she refused the transplant surgery that would cure the lower body paralysis she sustained in her fall. Now, as a disabled person, she can’t be unwound.

What are your thoughts in the current environment of children struggling with mental health issues?

*** Only comments that include a valid name and email address will be approved on the blog.

19 Comments

Ryan

12/10/2020 12:06:31 pm

Other than it being very poorly written?

Teresa Chadwick

12/10/2020 12:17:37 pm

WHO put this on the 9th grade reading list and why?? This is sick and very inappropriate material for any student!!

Lisa Castellano

12/10/2020 12:28:23 pm

I truly hope that you are aware of the Virginia Beach SCHOOL BOARD policies of challenged materials- https://www.vbschools.com/about_us/our_leadership/school_board/policies_and_regulations/section_6/6-61_2.

I would also familiarize myself with Island Trees School District VS. Pico, a Supreme Court Case, if I were a school board member who was thinking of challenging a book.

Victoria Manning

12/10/2020 12:37:43 pm

I'm very aware of the policy and have advised the parents of it as well. The court case you reference is regarding library books, not approved curriculum being taught.

Jennifer

12/10/2020 01:33:27 pm

This is EXTREMELY disturbing. I would NOT let my 9th grade child read this. This is a small review of the book and even this paragraph is very troubling.
"In America after the Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to an agreement: 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. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, a parent may choose to retroactively get rid of a child through a process called "unwinding." Unwinding ensures that the child's life doesn’t “technically” end by transplanting all the organs in the child's body to various recipients. Now a common and accepted practice in society, troublesome or unwanted teens are able to easily be unwound."

Elaine Lombardi

12/10/2020 02:29:57 pm

Is this any more (or less) 'disturbing' than "lord of the Flies?" I don't think so.

Tell ya what though- I bet the 9th graders read it ravenously.

Kristi Sundstrom link

12/10/2020 03:07:02 pm

The 9th graders at Salem High School loved this book last year and looked forward to the reading of the next book this school year, but COVID-19 put a damper on that

Carolyn Spellman

12/10/2020 05:40:00 pm

My daughter said it is a favorite book, after having read it in the ninth grade! She loved the fact that all the other students also loved it.

Jennifer Scovill

12/11/2020 07:02:37 pm

Students love this book! Some of the best, most interesting discussions. Students who never read, read this book.

12/10/2020 03:03:53 pm

Salem High School completed this first book in the series as our fiction reading last school year. The students found it very interesting and many asked their parents to buy them the remaining books in the series, and they did. Please do not question a book by a few passages that are introduced. There is so much more to it than that.

Lynn Martin

12/10/2020 04:08:41 pm

Clearly, this novel has fictional interpretations of human trafficking. We know parents in dire financial circumstances in 2nd & 3rd world countries sell their daughters. This also weaves in organ farming and organ reaping that occurs in Chinese prisons and in Uyghur prison camps, and in other countries. There are a few folks on Hampton Roads' Who's Who list who have procured organ transplants in other countries. These are real issues. It also portrays disability issues in an adolescent relationship which is a good way to establish rapport and empathy for future relationships with those who have disabilities. Fiction often serves to reflect on current affairs in a way that provides a buffer to real life. Do you want your kids reading fiction or reading first person accounts of true human trafficking survivors and organ reaping survivors? Those narratives exist, but are far less palatable than a fictional novel written for this age group. Stop coddling high schoolers. When they get to my college classes they better be ready to learn about real life. We do not put butterflies and rainbows on the syllabus. This novel is a good half step and good college prep.

Suzanne Saltisiak

12/10/2020 04:10:24 pm

Have you read the book?

Adrian Hayes

12/10/2020 04:12:29 pm

No children are ever forced to read anything in opposition to their parents' wishes or restrictions. Teachers will supply alternative texts to students whose parents request it, and the alternative texts will attend to the same instructional objectives. So the question becomes whether or not you support allowing some parents to make decisions about the instructional materials all students can use.

The board policy cited above states: "The Virginia Beach City School Board has developed a policy with accompanying regulations for reconsideration of instructional materials. In keeping with this policy, you are directed to contact the Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Support Services." Wouldn't referring those parents to submit their complaints through the appropriate channels be the most productive response? There is a policy in place that allows first the school, then the division's instructional leadership, then the school board to review the materials. Regardless of what you or I think of the book, why not direct the parents to that process? If your goal is to have the instructional materials evaluated and potentially removed, that seems like the surest path. Why blog about it?

On the other hand, if your goal is to call attention to yourself and stir the pot with a like-minded base ... well, that explains the blog.

Donna

12/10/2020 05:37:19 pm

This is most inappropriate for anyone to read let alone a young mind that is easy to mold. What unbalanced person wrote and chose this to be read.

Christopher Bone

12/10/2020 07:13:03 pm

There is a fine line to cross when it comes to the censorship of literature and the motivation of children to read. Literature can spark deep ethical conversations in schools that lead to the meaningful expressions of ideas.

What would you say to stories such as "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, widely read by 9th graders, in which men, women, and children are selected each year to be stoned to death for a blessed harvest. What about the disturbed nature of many of the E. A. Poe stories in which many of the characters have mental health issues. The numerous Christie and Doyle novels with murders and drug use galore. What about the fornication, murder, magic, and adultery in Shakespeare? Do they have to be branded with The Scarlet Letter in order to make them ok because they were marked for their sins?

What about the dystopian novels such as The Giver or Ghe Last Book of the Universe? The Hunger Games? What about Night,, a significant piece to teach the need to learn from our past through experiences of the Holocaust. Graphic, disturbing, grotesque, horrifying. Or, are novels like these and Unwind only wrong because they deal with significant themes and are contemporary in nature? Surely all of the stories mentioned earlier, with characters who murder, perform magic, fornicate, rape, inject heroin, and tear people down for no reason aren't appropriate just because they are classics?

What is going to happen when the division begins to add more inclusive literature to the approved reading list with LGBTQIA+ characters and other novels with contemporary themes that challenge the status quo? Are you going to question those when a parent is concerned about family values and beliefs not being presented through those stories?

Why not let the parent and child choose? If they don't want to read the book, let them ask for an alternate selection. A blanket challenge to this text should only warrant a challenge to the majority of selections on the approved list, and that would be unfortunate. Every person can find fault with something to fit their agenda. The challenge of literature is a slippery slope, however. I, for one, would be there to offer a counterpoint to every challenge that was made should the need arise. I would hate to see us lose Shakespeare when the language of the text is truly examined.

Kalie

12/10/2020 08:55:48 pm

“Lord of the Flies” has children murdering each other.
“The Awakening” has its main character committing suicide at the end.
Anything Shakespeare has violence, death, and suicide. How about stop bringing your personal politics into the school building.

Jennifer Adams

12/11/2020 09:38:35 am

Have you read the book? I assume not or you would have said it. You, nor he School Board, should be able to tell students and families what they should or should not read. If they do not want to read a book, they will chose another book based on guidance from their teacher. Censorship should never be part of the SB’s responsibilities.

12/13/2020 03:21:47 pm

This book is remarkably well done. I've read the entire series and have recommended it to many. Everyone I know who has read it has been sucked in and enjoyed it just as much as I did. The series is quite thought-provoking for both teens and adults. While it may be a bit too much for a middle school student, a 9th grader should be able to handle it just fine, especially the first book. Give it a read and see for yourself. I think you would enjoy it :)

Soledad Hernandez

12/13/2020 04:46:11 pm

I actually read this book when I was 12. I believe this book is a valuable story for high school students, as it explores complex plot lines that serve as allegories for today’s political climate.
What fascinated me most about Unwind was its raw and authentic presentation of the abortion debate. It’s neither pro life nor pro choice; it’s more about the moral ambiguity of the extremes of both sides. Both supporters and opponents of unwinding take their beliefs to extreme measures, which causes the conflict in the book. The reader is taken on a journey that ends with them understanding the true complexity of the situation.
There are many parents who argue that the book is too violent for high schoolers to read. As a high schooler myself, I say it is perfectly fine. It is no different from the likes of Fahrenheit 451, Divergent, the Hunger Games, and the Maze Runner. The violence and gore in Unwind is never senseless; it serves to show how extreme the situation has become and how far the characters will go for their beliefs. Banning this book would take away a valuable discussion of morality from our students.

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