Girls With Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young

One of the grade 7 girls at school comes to me regularly (like every other day) to ask me what she should read next.  Since I've lost a great deal of my library when I left it behind at my old school, I'm having to find new books for her.  This has been great (although expensive) because it means I'm looking for new books for both of us to read.  She recently read all of The Program series, reading more than I did.  Last week I was reading Twitter and a new book by Suzanne Young was announced - Girl With Sticks, after reading the blurb on Amazon, I knew both of us would love this book. 

 Girl with Sharp Sticks is such an interesting book.  In some ways it is like The Uglies, and like The Handmaids Tale as well.   The main character is Mena - she is a young adult who goes to the Innovation Academy.  Here, beautiful young women are taught how to behave in the world. They are taught how to be the best wife any man could ask.  At this school they are supervised by Doctors, an Analyst and their Guardian, nothing is left to chance for them.  They are kept at school except during highly supervised field trips.  But when Mena meets a boy from the outside world and starts to question what she has been taught, her and her friends discover that all is not what it is seems in their world. 

This was a great read, I started it last night and finished it this morning.  There are certainly similarities between The Program series, but it is unique and the plot twists are surprising and I could not stop reading it. 
I can't wait to give it to a few students next week.