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Set in the future when teenagers are monitored via camera and their recorded actions and confessions plugged into a computer program that determines their ability to succeed. All kids given a "score" that determines their future potential. This score can get kids into colleges, grant scholarships, or destroy all hope for the above. Scored's reluctant heroine is Imani, a girl whose high score is brought down when her best friend's score plummets. Where do you draw the line between doing what feels morally right and what can mean your future? Friendship, romance, loyalty, family, human connection and human value: all are questioned in this fresh and compelling dystopian novel set in the scarily forseeable future.
Everyone is a number in a dystopian near-future in which lives are determined by a corporation's surveillance-driven scores.
Imani LeMonde has grown up under the watchful cameras of Score Corp, a software company promising access to advancement opportunities for those with high-enough scores. When her best friend Cady's score plummets, Cady becomes a liability. If Imani can keep her score over 90 until she graduates, she gets to go to college—otherwise, she can't afford a future. The prospect of freedom through college means being under constant corporate surveillance, making it risky for her to see Cady or Diego, an intelligent yet unscored classmate. When Diego wants to partner with Imani for an essay assignment requiring the scored students to write persuasively against the score and the unscored to argue for it, Imani's score-quest leads her into playing both sides while trying to decide which one is hers. McLaughlin (Recycler, 2009, etc.) keeps the heavy, philosophical ideas married to the characters, thus preventing the story from becoming a preachy rant. Diego's flaws and privilege along with the tension of Imani's final score looming overhead complicate what would otherwise be an open agenda.
The bold, aggressive narrative condemns both No Child Left Behind–style testing and current financial policies, cautioning about what could happen to social mobility in the face of stark inequity.(Science fiction. 13 & up)
Anonymous
Posted September 20, 2012
So normally I don't read books like this but when my friend gave it to me, I figured why not? I fell in love with this book!:) Dystopian books tend not to be most teenagers favorites but I think anyone could enjoy this book! I hope they write another one it was so good! I highly recommend it, and it is great to get you in the mood to read books like 1984, a great classic!:)
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Posted June 17, 2012
Loved it
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.As a teacher, I¿m always trying to get my students to work hard. We all know that the state test scores determine so much for a student. It looks like someone finally wondered what it would be like if we went to the extreme and came up with this awesome book. Imagine a world where you are continuously watched and judged. Imani is a teenager who has bought into the whole ScoreCorp garbage. Why? She has a high score. Everything affects your scores, who you are friends with, who you date, who you work with or help in school. There is no privacy. Step out of line and you could ruin your whole life. Of course, isn¿t it funny that ScoreCorp is the one in control? Only the rich can afford to go to college. If you want a chance then your parents must agree to have you scored. Imani¿s score drops. She is paired with Diego to complete a project. Diego doesn¿t have a score because his family is filthy rich. This pairing up opens Imani¿s eyes to many things that are going on around her.
I have to say this would be a wonderful book to read together in class. The debates that could occur would be great. I could see picking an issue from the book and using Socratic circles to discuss those issues. I guess I see it this way because I am a teacher and we see so much pressure put on teachers and students about test scores. I think this is a book that parents, teachers and students will enjoy.
I hope there is more from this author on this topic. If not I look forward to reading more of her work.
Somerton is a poor town; jobs have been lost since the second Great Depression when the Ponzi schemes and stock market crash left people homeless and helpless. In Somerton, however, they have found a new way of living life - they are what other people call a 'trial city.' Almost everywhere you turn in Somerton, there are small black balls (eyes) hanging from every street corner, café and in every classroom. These eyes were placed there by the Score Corporation, and they are there to watch, judge and keep score of all the students in the town. The score is received is based on many things - intelligence, social abilities, and how the subject can adapt to 'fit in' and do well in their future endeavors. The eyes don't actually 'hear' words, they are set up to read lips, study facial expressions, body movements, emotions, etc. to make sure that you're the "right" kind of person. For someone who has a high enough score, they will receive a free scholarship so that they can go on to college - the only way to do it because the parents are far too poor to further their child's education. If you are an "underscored" student, you will basically have the option of working in a mini-mart.or worse. All 'high scorers' sit together at lunch, hang out together, and stay in their "socially correct" group. If they are seen talking with someone who is underscored THEY lose points and the chance at getting the scholarships. In Somerton live two girls who have been best friends since they were little, and they made a pact that they would never give up their friendship no matter what happened with their scores. Imani is in the '90's' and has maintained her high score for a long time, but her best friend, Cady, has a very low score - and as she grows older and makes bad decisions, the score gets even lower. One day, the day of the month when the Score Charts go up so that all the students can see what their current score is, everyone starts to act very odd around Imani. It seems that almost overnight her score fell from a 92 into the basement. Why? Because the 'eye in the sky' saw her talking to Cady, and her friend then went out and began to date someone with an even lower score. Simply because Imani was 'spotted' as her friend, all her hard work has been erased. She is now shunned by the 90's group - with no hope of ever receiving her scholarship. Until.A teacher with tenure decides to offer a bright light at the end of the 'underscored' tunnel. There IS a scholarship, but in order to apply, a paper must be written that may just get Imani in even more trouble. There are significant questions that this book brings to the surface regarding 'social groups' and the way people are 'placed' into certain sectors of the world based on their actions, skin color, language, etc. Is this simply a new dystopian world that is a mirror image of the Nazi-regime? Or, is it actually exactly the path our country is currently headed down? One of the most amazing lines in this book is when the writer talks about loyalty as being a trait that people USED to think highly of - but no more. The writing is stupendous, the characters are flawless, and Miss McLaughlin has certainly made George Orwell very, very proud. Quill Says: There's nothing left to say but.READ THIS!
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Overview
Set in the future when teenagers are monitored via camera and their recorded actions and confessions plugged into a computer program that determines their ability to succeed. All kids given a "score" that determines their future potential. This score can get kids into colleges, grant scholarships, or destroy all hope for the above. Scored's reluctant heroine is Imani, a girl whose high score is brought down when her best friend's score plummets. Where do you draw the line between doing what feels morally right ...