Otherwise

Gr 7–10—What if identification with a particular gender became illegal? What if the powers that be decided that overpopulation and other unspecified societal ills could be solved by requiring all citizens to appear not male or female but "otherwise"? In this book set decades into the future, Pennsylvania is the last state to sign off on S868A, just such a bill. Unfortunately, this bizarre dystopian novel-in-verse lacks an internal logic that would help make its premise tenable enough. A teen girl chooses the unisex name Spark when she meets a gender-unknown love interest at a New Jersey campground. Just as for Spark, who becomes attracted to another without knowing their sex roles, so the author attempts to hide from readers the gender of Whistler, a person who follows Spark home to her parents' house with less than a month before gender identification becomes unlawful. This hi-lo offering fails to deliver a satisfying narrative. Even if the ideas could pique the interest of reluctant readers, who desire a slim book with plenty of white space, its convoluted logic undermines teens' potential enjoyment.—Suzanne Gordon, Lanier High School, Sugar Hill, GA