Rash: Response

 

 

 

   In the future the U.S.A has changed to the U.S.S.A (United Safer States of America), and the name of isn’t the only thing that’s safer in the U.S.S.A. The citizen’s main priority is the assurance of the longevity and security of their health. When going outside one must put on a walking helmet, private ownership of large dogs is illegal, and if you have the money you can purchase a special chair that you live in that extends your life span. In today’s society these laws seem impractical and absurd. One might ask how the government could enforce such ludicrous regulations, the penal system in the U.S.S.A. is very simple three strikes and you’re out. The main character is Bo Marsden, a 16-year-old in high school. Bo's father and brother are in prison, and he lives at home with his mom and his grandfather. Bo’s grandfather brews his own illegal beer and keeps a shot gun under his bed, and spends the majority of his time criticizing the safety protocol and ranting about back in his day.

   Bo is a runner and is constantly competing with Karlohs Mink, a classmate who takes a liking to Bo’s girlfriend. On the day Bo tries to set a new school record, Karlohs is even more obnoxious than normal and Bo loses his cool. After that day Karlohs and Bo have more disagreements that finally land Bo in a correctional facility, where he works making pizzas and eating whatever pizzas don’t make the cut. After a while Bo tries out to be a part of an elite group of boys in the factory called the gold shirts. After Bo and his cell mate Rhino make the team they soon find out that the team is actually an illegal football team that is coached by the brutal warden.

   This book was very funny, and kept me in good humor. The plot line is very eclectic but it’s a good read. My favorite part is the sub-plot including a rogue artificial intelligence that starts off as a monkey in a beanie to a troll with green hair that eventually develops into a high-class businessman/lawyer that has every one fooled. I loved the irony throughout the book as well, and I learned a great lesson a lesson that can apply to many things in this life. Always run like there is a bear chasing you.

  Here is a look at what goes through Bo’s head "Of course, without people like us Marsdens, there wouldn't be anybody to do the manual labor that makes this country run. Without penal workers, who would work the production lines, or pick the melons and peaches, or maintain the streets and parks and public lavatories? Our economy depends on prison labor. Without it everybody would have to work -- whether they wanted to or not." For a convicted felon I find Bo’s thought process quite deep.