UnSouled By Neal Shusterman (Unwind Series)

Note about the author: Neal Shusterman is a critically acclaimed author whose book "Unwind" is now commonly taught in schools. Although it is categorized as Young Adult fiction due to the writing style, I would suggest people of all ages read it. It is a blatant satire that does not even try to hide its alignments with our society (no worrying about the meaning behind the blue curtains, if you catch my drift). 

***UnSouled***

"Who has been in their right mind for the past nine years?"
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"Sitting feels like acceptance. It feels like admitting failure. Next he'll be lost in that armchair with a drink in his hands, swirling the ice to hear it clink, feeling the alcohol numbing him into submission. No, that's not him. It will never be him."
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"What did they expect when educational funding was diverted to the war? How could they not know public education would fail? With no schools, no jobs, and nothing but time on their hands, what did they think these kids would do other than make trouble?"
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'They see distrust all around them, and it makes them want to deliver their anger all the more. "How dare you distrust me?" their violence says. "You don't know me."'
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"When it comes to cities and suburbs, Connor has found that most are fairly identical–only the geography changes. Rural areas, however, vary greatly. Some small towns are places you'd want to come from and eventually go back to: warm, inviting communities that breathe out Americana the way rain forests breathe out oxygen. And then there are towns like Heartsdale, Kansas. This is the place where fun came to die."

"For many months before today, he had suffered on the streets. The things he had to do to survive were horrifying and demoralizing. They were dehumanizing to the point that there wasn't much left of him that felt remotely human anymore. He had surrendered to the shame of it, resigning himself to a marginal life on the seediest back streets of Sin City. "
 

Note from author: There is so much judgement against homeless people. I think it is important to acknowledge most do not choose it. It's not always laziness. Whether poverty, mental illness, addiction, or just having terrible families, you do not know the story of how a person ended up there. Remember: 20-40% of homeless youth are LGBT with nowhere to go. 

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'"Do I make myself clear?"

"Any clearer and you'd be invisible."'
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"Apparently he's made the right enemy, because now he has many, many friends."
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"She idly wonders which is crueler, man or nature. She determines it must be man. Nature has no remorse, but neither does it have malice. Plants take in the light of the sun and give off oxygen with the same life-affirming need that a tiger tears into a toddler. Or a scavenger devours a lowlife." 

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MORE TO COME
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