Gr 5-8 A clunky, didactic science-fiction allegory. Leanna, 13, is studying the Underground Railroad. African slavery is ancient history in this America of 2170, but a new group is enslaved: clones. Leanna gives little thought to their status until her mother is suddenly arrested for ties to The Liberty Bell, a secret clone-liberation organization. Shaken, disbelieving, and afraid for her mother's life at the hands of cruel government captors, the teen asks her mother's friend for help. Using biographshuman replicas similar to hologramsDr. Ayala introduces past and present figures entrusted with The Liberty Bell's work: Benjamin Franklin, Justice John Marshall Harlan, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Leanna's grandfather, Dr. David Montgomery. Leanna learns the importance of their work as well as a dangerous secret about her own identity. Some aspects of the plot are predictable and poorly drawn: few readers will be surprised when the "unnamed girl from 2170" whom Ben Franklin predicts will join the ranks of The Liberty Bell's Custodians is revealed to be the protagonist. Similarly, too many references to the distant pastsuch as Leanna describing her disheveled mother looking "like old photos of twentieth-century drug addicts"prevent the futuristic setting from coming to life. Still, the fast pace, short chapters, and slim page count will make this volume attractive to reluctant readers, and the obvious curriculum tie-ins will appeal to teachers."Megan Honig, New York Public Library" Copyright 2010 Media Source Inc.
In 2170, America has a new slave class: clones. Thirteen-year-old Leanna begins to question this order when her mother is arrested as part of a "terrorist" organization promoting clone rights. Obvious historical parallels are heavy-handed and sometimes supersede the logic of the authors' future world, but the action-filled plot and sympathetic characters make this parable readily accessible.
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