Rash

Book: Rash
Author: Pete Hautman
Audience: Teen
In a Nutshell: things get dangerous when you put safety first

I've put off blogging this book for a long time, and I think it's because I liked it so much. I wanted to be sure to cover everything that I thought was great, and do it justice, and that has resulted in doing nothing at all. So I'm diving in.

Bo Marston has anger management issues, and it runs in the family. His father has been in a work camp for years thanks to a road rage incident, and Bo's mother is afraid he's headed in the same direction. The year is 2076, and the U.S.S.A. has hit the extremes of certain recent trends in this satirical view of the future. Renamed the United Safer States of America several years previously, American society has decided it would "rather be safe than free." Angry or aggressive behavior results in very harsh punishment. Football and all other contact sports are illegal; even running high school track, Bo must wear more padding than a hockey goalie. Not that hockey is legal. Anything that has been deemed unhealthy is also banned, including smoking, drinking, and junk food; obesity itself is illegal.

Bo's anger lands him in jail on the frozen tundra, where he's forced to work in a pizza factory, play illegal football, and survive with the help of a homework assignment named Bork. This survival adventure story has come back to mind more times than almost any book I read that year, probably because signs abound around us that being safe is becoming more important than anything else, including having fun or being free. Or maybe people are just getting stupider. The Onion thinks so too. Whatever the reason, if you like "dangerous" things like sports, junk food, and real see-saws, and want a story with lots of action, humor, and something to think about, try Rash.