The Program

Ilse Diaz
Mrs. Arnold
English 9
May 18, 2015

For this independent reading project, I read “The Program” by Suzanne Young, a fictional futuristic story that includes action, brainwashing, and a little bit of romance. The story is definitely a fast read that keeps you deeply intrigued. Young keeps the “teenager-esque” feeling well in the story, the feelings that the characters feel reflect onto you and really intrigue you. The main characters, Sloane Barstow and James Murphy, find themselves in a very tough situation when all they have left is each other after The Program has taken everyone they know, that haven't killed themselves, because of the depression that has over swept globally on teenagers. Sloane's brother killed himself and now Miller, James and Sloane’s best friend, has killed himself. The Program has been made to stop depression from children who are at high risk of depression and brainwash them to forget everything in the past and move on. Weeks after Miller killed himself, they took James and he came back completely brainwashed. A week after his return, Sloane’s parents flagged her and called The Program to take her as well. Now it’s up to Sloane to see how she’ll save herself from The Program. All the characters really mesh together well to create the heart breaking but equally as fascinating in this story. Sloane is portrayed as a tough and strong female because even though she’s had a very harsh life so far, she finds ways to move on and helps others along the way. The fact that this is in the future, it makes one wonder and think that it could happen because of many factors that have a possible ending similar to the book. It was very well written and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a romantic but action filled book.