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Wired

Name: Wired
Author: Robin Wasserman
ISBN: 9781416974543

by Robin Wasserman

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Overview

One year ago, Lia Kahn died.

A few days later, she woke up.

She had a new body: Mechanical, unfeeling, inhuman. She had a new family: Mechs like her, who didn’t judge her for what she could no longer be. She had a new life, one that would last forever.

At least, it was supposed to.

But now everything Lia thought she knew has turned out to be a lie; everyone she thought she loved has been stolen away. And someone is trying to get rid of the mechs, once and for all. Lia will risk everything to save herself and the people she can’t live without. But not before facing one final truth: She can’t save everyone.

Synopsis

One year ago, Lia Kahn died. A few days later, she woke up. She had a new body Mechanical, unfeeling, inhuman. She had a new family Mechs like her, who didn’t judge her ...

VOYA

Wired, the final book in Robin Wasserman's Skinned trilogy, finds Lia, once again, up against BioMax. Lia, a 'mech'(a mechanical body whose brain was downloaded from her real brain when she died in a car accident) discovers that BioMax, the company that developed the download process, has grander plans than helping accident victims. They have maintained the discarded human brains from these accident victims and are attempting to manipulate them to cultivate certain aggressive characteristics, which ,when downloaded into robots controlled by BioMax, would supply them with a robotic army of unlimited proportions. An added benefit would be the elimination of all mechs, which would please the orgs (humans) of the world. Along with fellow mech, Jude, and orgs Auden (former friend) and Zo (Lia's sister), this quartet must stop the demise of the mechs and proliferation of robots. Skinned (Simon Pulse, 2008/VOYA October 2008) and Crashed (Simon Pulse, 2009/VOYA August 2009) must be read to understand Wired. Wired does not contain much action. The plot is not realistic, nor is it very interesting. Wasserman spends too much time setting the scene and reintroducing characters from the trilogy's first two books, and not enough time or energy describing the BioMax threat and the plan to defeat the corporation. The apparatus needed by the quartet to thwart BioMax's plans seem to appear out of thin air. They basically have no plan, and much of the book is taken up with this realization. Lia's ultimate victory over BioMax was confusing to this reader. Fans of this trilogy might be disappointed with the finale. Reviewer: Ed Goldberg

About the Author, Robin Wasserman

Robin Wasserman’s teen novels include the Seven Deadly Sins series, the Cold Awakening trilogy, Hacking Harvard, and The Book of Blood and Shadow. She is also the author of the middle grade series Chasing Yesterday. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit her at RobinWasserman.com or follow her on Twitter at @RobinWasserman.

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Editorials

VOYA - Ed Goldberg

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—This final volume in the trilogy that began with Skinned (S & S, 2008) neatly wraps up the dystopian tale of human consciousness downloaded into mechanical bodies. Lia has become a spokesperson for the mechs, trying to work with BioMax to improve public sentiment. To this end, she agrees to a guest starring role in a "vidlife," the future's equivalent of reality TV programming, where viewers get to vote on everything from who the actors fight with to whom they kiss. Riley, brought back to life in a body that looks like his original human one, and Lia have worked to maintain their relationship even though the new body has created some awkwardness between them. Lia's sister, Zo, and rivals Auden and Jude are also heavily involved as it becomes clear that something sinister is happening, not only with the Brotherhood, but also at BioMax. Over the course of the series, the characters have gone through many changes. Zo's integration into Lia's closely knit mech world is particularly effective here. While it's hampered by a handful of continuity errors, particularly the author's failure to explain how the mechs are able to charge themselves in the dead zone without the wireless web of energy they rely on at home, this is still a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. The ending will leave readers pondering the nature of humanity. As with much series fiction, this title does not stand alone. Purchase where the earlier two volumes have been popular.—Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH

Kirkus Reviews

In this futuristic sequel (Skinned, 2008, Crashed, 2009), the indomitable "mech" Lia Kahn returns, now even more comfortable in the bionic body given to her by BioMax after a horrific car crash that left her all but brain dead. Although it reintroduces familiar struggles with the corrupt corporate giant that saved and changed her life and the ethical issue of what it means to be a mech that cannot die, this installment is truly about relationships, especially those among Lia's family. Born to a BioMax executive, Lia has a love/hate relationship with her father, and when she begins peeling back the layers of BioMax's latest insidious and deadly plan she finds herself both pitted against him and reunited with her previous nemesis, her cunning younger sister Zo. Wasserman creates a convincing and imaginative dystopia that her characters fill with action and a wide range of human emotion. Harsh language makes this appropriate for older teens, who will also appreciate the overt and underlying ethical dilemmas throughout. (Science fiction. 12 & up)