Spiked

Gr 8 Up–In an alternate America that is recovering from a deadly flu epidemic and is constantly dealing with chronic fires and dwindling resources, McGoran’s feisty heroine and her friends understand how much is at stake and will fight for it. In the third and final installment to the “Spliced” trilogy, Jimi, a chimera rights activist, and her chimera boyfriend, Rex, battle prejudice aimed at humans spliced with animal DNA. Jimi is caught between two pro-chimera organizations that differ in ideology but want her support: CLAD, the group that bombed a peace meeting, and Chimerica, which has been accused of not doing enough. Jimi soon finds herself fighting to not only protect chimera but all of humankind after Howard Wells, a known spokesperson against chimera rights and the creator of a computer implant that instantly connects its wearers to an array of information, launches a plan to take on population control himself. Jimi soon realizes that Wells has a more sinister use for his implants. This novel effortlessly mixes science fiction elements into a timely story that will resonate with readers without being overly didactic.