Year of the Crystal Children - E.M. Chandler

                Year of the Crystal Children is an interesting adventure/mystery novel written for young adults but could be enjoyed by a lot of the older generations as well. The subject matter is very relevant to today’s world where technology rules and government advancement in this area has led to questions of just how much should “big brother” have access to in our lives. For me, this novel is like the book 1984 written by George Orwell for this generation. Bailey is a normal teenager who lives in a time when drones are used to monitor citizens’ movements and students wear I.D. tags that record their every movement. When Bailey returns to her school to retrieve her cell phone, she stumbles on a government secret that leads to her arrest and incarceration in a rehabilitation school where she meets a group of kids who have also been unfairly arrested due to their curiosity. This motley crew are intent on finding out exactly what the government is up to in the woods surrounding the rehab school. I enjoyed this book and found it to be a fast and easy read. I particularly liked the characters which were well written, believable and, most important of all, likeable. At the very beginning of the book, which is a perfect place to put this, the author adds a few facts about some of the concepts discussed in the book. It was very interesting and helpful while reading the rest of the book. This was an ebook and formatted well on my ereader and the cover was interesting. I hope this book becomes part of a series because there is much more to tell in Bailey’s story.