Glitch

Zoe, 17, lives in the Community, an underground civilization where everyone has computer chips in their brains that connect them to the Link network, dull their emotions, and turn them into drones that shuffle through their literally gray lives. But Zoe is glitching—suffering disconnects from the Link that allow her to experience color, feelings, and free thought. She knows it’s her duty to report herself as anomalous, yet she’s enjoying the new sensations, and her rewired brain has an added bonus: telekinesis. While struggling to remain hidden so she won’t be “fixed,” Zoe meets other glitchers with special powers and learns about the Resistance, which wants to free the human race from its self-imposed slavery. Anastasiu’s debut is a taut and twisty drama, and her planned trilogy holds promise, but the mix of the possible and technologically implausible may read like handwaving to diehard SF readers. Characterizations are also a bit thin: Zoe is a compassionate but passive heroine, and the realistically self-centered melodrama of teenagers feeling hormones for the first time substitutes for more complex personalities. Ages 13–up. Agent: Charlie Olsen, Inkwell Management. (Aug.)