Rash (unabr.)

Jo-Ann Carhart, East Islip Public Library, NY -- School Library Journal, 4/17/2007

6 cassettes or 6 CDs. 6:30 hrs. Recorded Books. 2006. cassette, ISBN 1-4281-1098-4: $39.75; CD, ISBN 1-4281-1103-4: $64.75.

Gr 7 Up–Peter Hautman's novel (S & S, 2006) is a humorous and thought-provoking satire about life in the United Safer States of America in the year 2076 when safety and health rule the day and dangerous sports activities are against the law. Anyone who deviates from these principles (24% of the population) is sent to work camps run by global conglomerates. When 16-year-old Bo Marsten becomes furious with his nemesis for beating him at a track meet and trying to steal his girlfriend, the young man claims that Bo gave him a rash, and other schoolmates develop psychosomatic symptoms. Bo's family is known for their bad tempers (his brother and father are both in prison), so it's no surprise when Bo is sentenced to prison at a pizza factory in the tundra. In order to reduce his sentence, work fewer hours, and eat something other than pizza, Bo joins an illegal football team (banned in the 2050s) run by one of the wardens. As danger mounts for Bo, Bork, an AI computer program he had created for a school assignment, activates and becomes his virtual lawyer. Young adults will cheer Bo on as he tries to elude bears and football thugs and make it back home.Narrator Andy Paris becomes the young, angst-filled Bo Marsten, and he appropriately exaggerates the voices of some of the more colorful characters, amplifying the satire. Young adult listeners who enjoyed M. T. Anderson's Feed (Candlewick, 2002) and Lois Lowry's The Giver (HM, 1993) will relish this futuristic novel that combines humor, science fiction, and football.