In the next Clone Codes installment, Houston, a cyborg, tells his story. Set in the year 2130, The World Federation of Nations determines through laws and regulations that all enhanced persons with three or more synthetic body or organ replacements are classified as three-fifths of a human being. As such, Houston is considered less than human and must fight to overcome the rules of his strange universe. Drawing on parallels to slavery, terrorism, caste system oppression, and war, readers confront the troubling and complex moral questions probed throughout history.
The second book of the Clone Codes (Clone Codes,2010) focuses on Houston Ye, the teen cyborg who helped the clone Leanna escape the government forces seeking her in fulfillment of its policy of discrimination against any deemed not completely human. Houston's life was saved by technology, but his nonhuman status resulted in abandonment by his family. Now he finds himself on a hijacked spaceship with Leanna and a boy genius heading for the Moon to look for the protection of his guardian, another cyborg, who had been a friend of his father. The Moon, away from the attention of the Federation, has become a place where Firsts (fully human), cyborgs and clones can get along. The Federation decides to clamp down further on cyborgs, triggering a wave of protests modeled on the Civil Rights movement. The McKissacks continue to successfully draw parallels between a futuristic world that tries to control those considered different and historic racial struggles. The characters are drawn without much complexity, but the worldbuilding is intriguing, there is plenty of action and ethnic diversity in a science-fiction tale is welcome. (Science fiction. 12 & up)
After I read THE CLONE CODES, I was hoping that the authors would follow up with a story about Houston, the Cyborg that helped Leanna escape. Thankfully, CYBORG is his story. Huey wasn't always a Cyborg. When he was 7, he was in a boating accident. When he awakens in a clinic, he has a different eye, arm, leg, and artificial heart. According to the World Federation of Nations, a Cyborg is anyone having three or more synthetic body replacements. So, with Houston's four new parts, he is officially a Cyborg and, thus, subject to the Cyborg Act. Houston, Leanna, and their small band of rebels have landed at Shackelton City on the Moon. The City is run (unofficially) by Rizin, another Cyborg. Rizin was a war hero and friends with those after Leanna. But when he became a Cyborg, he became nothing in Taylor and Spiller's eyes. Rizin helps the group in many ways. As the unrest grows, Leanna wants to turn herself in. She is the key that the rebellion has kept secret - a true clone that grew up not knowing she was a clone. Houston will do what he can to protect her. Houston encounters a long-lost family member that he never expected to see again. More surprisingly, the family member may just help them out. In the end, the story is left hanging, yet again. The group is still out there fighting for justice. Don't let the short length of this novel stop you. It packs a powerful punch. Houston has replacement parts. With technology today, it's not hard to imagine such things. CYBORG makes the reader stop and think about the power government has and what happens when society goes along with everything. CYBORG is reminiscent of Robin Wasserman's WIRED and Mary Pearson's THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX. What makes us human? Read CYBORG and then think about it.
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Overview
In the next Clone Codes installment, Houston, a cyborg, tells his story. Set in the year 2130, The World Federation of Nations determines through laws and regulations that all enhanced persons with three or more synthetic body or organ replacements are classified as three-fifths of a human being. As such, Houston is considered less than...