Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1)
Thou shalt kill.
A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.
Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.
Published November 22nd 2016 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28954189-scythe?ac=1&from_search=true
I finished Scythe last night. I loved this book. I am not sure when the turning point from hate to love happened, but it did. Maybe it’s like Cecelia Ahern’s quote:
“There's a fine line between love and hate. Love frees a soul and in the same breath can sometimes suffocate it.”
The book takes place in the future where there are no deaths from disease, accidents, or murder. Everyone self-heals if they are injured. They go to the revival center or the nanites in their bodies simply block the pain and heal them. There are no more diseases. It seems like the perfect future. But….if no one dies and the population keeps growing, what next? Society has taken care of that problem...the Scythe. Scythes are a special group of people that it is their job to thin the population. They do this by “gleaning” (killing) individuals at random. “...but our founders saw fit to call us scythes-because we are weapons in mankind's immortal hand…” Scythes live in their own special groups governing themselves. They do not have to follow society’s laws. They are almost “god-like”. This book features two apprentices Scythes: Rowan and Crita. They are introduced into the world of Scythes as students studying to one day be official Scythes. They must go through intense mental and physical training, watch gleanings, talk to the surviving family, and choose sides in the turmoil in the Sychedom.
This book is very well written. In fact, it is a Printz Honor–winning book. This book has several plot twists that I never saw coming. Schusterman does an excellent job with his character development. It is unique how the author exposes the characters to the reader making them fearless and vulnerable at the same time. I had my favorite characters and ones I wish I could glean. This book is very violent and has lots of death. Some of the gleaning scenes are very graphic. If you do not like violence and its details, do not read this book.
This is the first book in the Arc of the Scythes series. Book two, Thunderhead, will be out November 21, 2017, by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. I will definitely be waiting for book two’s release. If you read this book, I would love to discuss it with you and hear your opinion.
As a teacher, I feel Scythe has a lot of possibilities for classroom use at the middle and high school levels.
-It is a book that would be great for discussions.
-Ethics of any kind of killing
-Value of one life over another
-Corruption of people in power
-Are you born to do a job or do you become the person you are because of your job?
-It could be a book that is used to discuss friendships: How they begin? How they evolve? Are friendships always two sided? -What would you do for your friends? Different levels of friendship.
-Scythe could also be used in cross-curricular activities.
-Science: Students could research all the advancements in medicine and safety that prolong life.
-Math: Study statistics on causes of death in today’s society. Use this information to “help” a Scythes decide which person he should glean.
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