review by John Chon, age 14
The Ones and The Equals by Daniel Sweren
Summary of The Ones: Cody has always been proud of being a One. She and her boyfriend James were two of the lucky babies from the 1% of the U.S. population that were randomly selected to benefit from genetic engineering. Now, she and the rest of The Ones are excelling. They are healthy, beautiful, and talented. They aren’t otherworldly, just perfect. And to some, that’s not fair. The Equality Movement, capitalizing on the growing fear and jealousy, gains political traction and actually outlaws their existence. Society shows its darker side as The Ones are marginalized. The line between right and wrong blurs in the face of injustice and Cody becomes closer to a group of radical Ones intent on fighting back. James begins to fear just how far she is willing to go for the cause. -Goodreads
The Ones and The Equals are very relevant books to our time. They speak of the moral implications created through genetic engineering of people to gain advantages. The series is written from the point of view of two Ones, the children who were chosen via lottery to be the first subjects of this test. Cody and James are two of many and are dating. They are constantly bullied for their “perfection.” The government passes laws allowing more persecution, until the two meet up with a resistance organization by chance. The first book ends in a daring escape where one of the characters is captured after a full-scale battle between the resistance and government forces. The second book picks up, telling the story from the girl’s point of view and her attempts to gain her boyfriend back. The resistance group is hiding out at an Ark, which they are preparing in order to take over the government. However, Cody doesn’t agree with this and attempts to stake out on her own. Will she succeed in recovering James or will she be caught in the crossfire?
This series raised some interesting questions. The main issue was how fair the playing field would be with genetically engineered humans against “normal” people. However, the books strayed from the topic and ended up going on a typical dystopian teen action novel direction, which was wholly disappointing to me, because it had such a strong premise to begin with. It doesn’t necessarily go down as really good or bad in my book, more as a stereotypical young adult book. 2 / 5 stars.
Find this book in our catalog: The Ones
Call Number: YA SF SWEREN-BECKER,D
294 pages
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