Hautman, Pete. Rash.

HAUTMAN, Pete. Rash. Read by Andy Paris. 6 tapes. 7 hrs. Recorded Books. 2006. 1-4281-10984. $39.75. Vinyl; plot, reader notes. JS *

From the starred review of the book in KLIATT, May 2006: "Sixteen-year-old Bo suffers from a fatal lack of self-control in a late 21st-century American society that values safety above all else. A third of the men are jailed for infractions, and prisoners are sold to multinational corporations as forced labor. A runner with a temper, Bo is falsely accused by a rival runner of causing a rash that sweeps through his school, and he ends up at MacDonald's plant #387 in the Canadian tundra. There he is recruited to join the illegal and homicidally brutal football team, with the chance of a reduced sentence if they win--and the likelihood of being eaten by polar bears if they lose. Bo's best chance for freedom, however, lies in an Artificial Intelligence he created for a school project, a strange creature named Bork who seems to have taken on a life of his own. In this absorbing and suspenseful satire with echoes of 1984, Brave New World, 2001: A Space Odyssey and even The Longest Yard, the issues of government control and safety versus freedom are played out in a grimly humorous fashion. Feisty Bo is an admirable hero, and his trials and tribulations as well as the sports action and intriguing future society will intrigue YAs. This provocative novel (with some strong language) is sure to win more acclaim for the National Book Award-winning author of Godless."

Paris performs with ease; his natural boyish tone is faultless at portraying young male protagonists. He uses effective inflections and voice changes to convey Bo's stress, anger, determination, and subtle sarcastic humor. His vocal portrayal of Bo's spunky and melancholic grandfather is spot on and the slow progression of Bork from simple artificial intelligence program into a machine that is believably near human is both fun and eerie to experience. Listeners will be fully engaged by and swept up into this provocative world that Hautman has created, a world that is almost frighteningly easy to imagine. As with other Recorded Books productions, the long pauses between chapters, particularly in a novel that has many moments of building momentum in its suspense, are both distracting and mildly annoying, as they interrupt the flow of the action. Stephanie Squicciarini, Teen Svcs. Libn., Fairport PL, Fairport, NY

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

*--The asterisk highlights exceptional books.