Title: Variant
Author: Robison Wells
Summary: Seventeen-year-old Benson Fisher thinks his life is finally about to change. The scholarship to Maxfield Academy is his ticket out of the foster care system he bounced around in since the age of five. Maxfield was to be his means of escape, but now he would give anything to escape Maxfield. Because Maxfield isn’t like the place he saw on the website or what he was promised by the director, Ms. Vaughn, in the three-hour drive from the Albuquerque airport to the school’s remote location. Instead, Maxfield is a school surrounded by unclimbable fencing and video cameras that monitor your every more. A place where no adults are seen, but rules are strictly enforced and breaking one can have deadly consequences.
In order to survive and maintain a certain level of peace, students have developed three groups: Society, Havoc, and Variant. Each group has specific jobs around the campus and certain beliefs with respect to life at Maxfield. Everyone must join a group, but does that mean Benson has to buy into the beliefs of his group? Benson is desperate to escape the school and when he discovers the real secret behind Maxfield he thinks he may have found the means to accomplish it. Now he just needs to figure out who he can trust because escaping this prision-like school is not going to be a one-man job.
Who will like this?: Fans of fast-paced thrillers/adventures will be surprised and intrigued with sci-fi kick near the end.
If you like this, try this: The Maze Runner by James Dashner, The Compound by S.A. Bodeen, Lockdown: Escape from Furnance by Alexander Gordon Smith.
Recommended by: Jen, Fairfield Woods Branch Teen Librarian