Unwind 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). The best part of it is that it gets you thinking about issues in ways you may not have before. Take no detail for granted when reading this book. Even the seemingly insignificant details will come back as part of the big picture.

***Unwind***

"Stupid dreams. Even the good ones are bad, because they remind you how poorly reality measures up."

"I remember thinking, if a baby was going to be so unloved, why would God want it brought into the world?"
 
'"Hold this." She puts the baby in Connor's arms. It's the first time she's given it to him. It feels much lighter than he expected. Something so loud and demanding ought to be heavier.'

“In a perfect world mothers would all want their babies, and strangers would open up their homes to the unloved. In a perfect world everything would be either black or white, right or wrong, and everyone would know the difference. But this isn’t a perfect world. The problem is people who think it is.”
 
“One thing you’ve learned when you’ve lived as long as I have—people aren’t all good, and people aren’t all bad. We move in and out of darkness and light all of our lives. Right now, I’m pleased to be in the light."
 
"Wherever his journey now takes him, it doesn't matter, because he has already arrived there in his heart. He's become like that briefcase in the ground - full of gems yet void of light, so nothing sparkles, nothing shines."
 
"You see, a conflict always begins with an issue - a difference of opinion, an argument. But by the time it turns into a war, the issue doesn't matter anymore, because now it's about one thing and one thing only: how much one side hates the other." Fav
 
“Which would be worse—to have tens of thousands of babies that no one wanted or to silently make them go away before they were even born?”
(There are just under half a million children in the US foster care system alone. Half of those [a quarter million] are waiting to be adopted. That's more than tens of thousands...)
 
“Amazing that the bullies and victims can now work together to bring misery to others.”
(referring to the government) 
 
“Who can say what goes through the mind of a clapper in the moments before carrying out that evil deed? No doubt whatever those thoughts are, they are lies. However, like all the dangerous deceptions, the lies that clappers tell themselves wear seductive disguises…”
(clapper is the term for suicide bomber in the book)

UnWholly 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). 

***UnWholly***

'"Words don't hurt you." Which is one of the biggest criminal lies perpetrated by adults against children in this world. Because words hurt more than any physical pain.'

  

"We should call you the little mermaid. . . because they let you magically walk, in exchange for your voice."

  

"As for Pastor Dan, he's a hero to Lev for having the courage to lose his convictions without losing his faith."

  

"'So what religion are we?" . . . 

The question has become a running joke, and each time Pastor Dan has another answer.

"We're Pentupcostal because we're sick of all the hypocrisy."
"We're Clueish, because we finally got a clue."

"We're PresbyPterodactyl, because we're making this whole thing fly against all reason."'

  

"It made him feel both terribly uncomfortable and also a little bit blessed to be at the core of a spiritual movement, even if it was only a movement of two."

  

"I'm too old to rage against the system. I just whine at it."

  

'"Do you have any idea what you've put this family through? The shame? The ridicule?"

"Then maybe you shouldn't surround yourself with people as judgmental as you."

  

"How do you judge the brightness of a light when you're the source? A spotlight can never see the shadows it casts."

  

"'They call it 'deprogramming,' which is a polite term for undoing brainwashing with more brainwashing."

  

"There's a powerful surge against her soul, as relentless as the waves crashing below, reminding her that in time the strongest of mountains is eroded into the sea, and she doesn't know how much longer she can resist it, or even if she should."

  

"We'll talk again when you're over yourself."

  

"Stop apologizing for everything. Save it for your more important screwups." 

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?"
.

"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."
 .

"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?"
 .

'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."'
 .

"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. 

 .
'"Do I make myself clear?"

"Any clearer and you'd be invisible."'
 .

"Apparently he's made the right enemy, because now he has many, many friends."
 .

"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." 

 .

MORE TO COME
 .