February 21, 2012

• Article 5

  

  New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned. The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

  There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don’t come back.

  Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard for her to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It’s hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

  Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

  That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.

  US has abandoned the Bill of Rights and become an extremist religious country. In short, America has become the ‘Christian’ version of Afghanistan as it was under Taliban rule.

  U.S. government authorized the Federal Bureau of Reformation, better known as the Moral Militia, to arrest any citizen in violation of the stringent “Moral Statutes.” Ember’s mom is arrested for violating Article 5 (Article 5 – Children are considered valid citizens only when conceived by a married man and wife.) and Ember is sent to a girls’ rehab where rule-breakers are punished with violence and those who try to escape are shot.

  Article 5 is set in a future America where citizens have little to no rights, every religion other than Christianity is forbidden, girls and boys cannot date, pregnancy outside of a marriage is against the law and ‘immoral’ books and materials are banned.  A world where being born from an unwed mother can get you killed – or worse.

  There wasn’t a dull moment in this book.

  This book seems like a scary look at what reality could be if some had their way. What could happen if those who want to legislate morality totally took over power.

  I give this book 4 out of 5 stars

  • 8:01 pm
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