Shade's Children: A Summary

You cannot tell by the title, but if you look at the cover of the book you'll realize the story inside will have a sci-fi feel to it.  Now, I'm not a huge sci-fi fan.  I've not made it thru all of the Star Wars movies or anything.  I tend to find sci-fi somewhat unrealistic and slightly boring.

Upon reading the book, it did turn out to be sci-fi-ish (yes, I just made that word up) but not overly so.  The book was an easy read in that the chapters were not too long and the print was the perfect size for fluid reading ... not too small, but not huge either.  It did have sci-fi terms and names for creatures that only a sci-fi geek would think of (sorry geeksters!).

Banned Reasons:  Vulgarity and for being obscene

I really do not understand how this book can be banned for being vulgar and obscene.  There are a few curse words here and there, but nothing that is overly shocking.  As for being obscene .... I'd like to know which uptight right-wing activist read this book and deemed it 'obscene.'  There was absolutely nothing in this book that was obscene.

One part of the book that may be thought of as "obscene" is the section mentioning the 'Lottery.'  The 'Lottery' is a randomly selected sexual encounter voluntarily participated in by survivors of The Change.  Even though you know there's a 'Lottery,' the book does not go into detail of the sexual encounters being acted out.  It simply explains what the 'Lottery' is and who participates in it.

Overall:  Even though I'm not a big fan of the sci-fi genre, I am glad this book was in the Top 100.  It gave me the chance to read a sci-fi book that I actually enjoyed.  As you can probably tell, I did not agree with the banned reasons.  I think any young adult (around the middle-school age) who likes to read various genres of literature would enjoy this book.  The ending was bittersweet, but well thought out and extremely appropriate.