Coda

Gr 8 Up—Music is Anthem's life-and it might be his death. In a society controlled by the Corporation, music is digitally enhanced so it acts like a drug. It's used to kill pain and to heal the sick but it's also used to control the citizenry and keep them dependent on the Corp, making them addicts and killing many at a young age. As a conduit, a person whose body is used to power the Corp's grid, Anthem, 18, has a short life expectancy and a miserable existence. His only joys are his twin siblings, whom he cares for in light of his mother's absence and his father's illness, and the illegal, "unencoded" music he makes with his band in an abandoned cellar. When it becomes clear that the Corp is taking encoding to dangerous new levels and is closing in on the renegade musicians, Anthem must risk everything to bring change to his society and free his beloved music. The story hums with tension. Plot twists and lots of action make for a riveting read with a believable and likable protagonist. The music seems almost alive, as if it were itself a character. The plot is marred only by an almost total lack of backstory (how did this dystopian society get to this state?) and a heavy-handed message (freedom is good, and mind control is bad). Band geeks, garage musicians, and teens told to "turn that garbage down" will clamor for this one.—Anthony C. Doyle, Livingston High School Library, CA