Lev, Risa, and Connor all come from very different backgrounds but meet for a common reason. They are going to be Unwound. Lev is a tithe, or a member of a very religious family that send children as a religious offering. Risa lives in a crowded orphanage. She isn't the most talented so she is sent to be Unwound. Connor gets in lots of fights so he is sent to be Unwound.
It all began when Connor runs away a few days before his Unwind date. He rides with a trucker until they are stopped by the Juvie cops. He is able to escape but jumps onto the highway and causes many car crashes. Risa is on a bus that crashed. She sneaks into the woods. Connor then breaks into a car and pulls Lev out as a hostage. He drags Lev into the woods that Risa escaped to. Risa, Lev, and Connor then are able to steal the gun of the Juvie Cop that is chasing them and tranquilize him. They find their way into a school were Lev is able to escapes. With the help on a kind teacher, Risa and Connor find their way to a set of safe-houses. Every few days they move to a new one until they reach what is thought to be the final destination.
It ends up they are being flown to an airplane graveyard (the Graveyard) in cargo boxes. Once they are there everyone is assigned jobs. Risa becomes a nurse and Connor becomes a mechanic. Everything is going perfect until the Graveyard ruler's five assistants are found dead.
Connor is chosen to figure out the mystery of who killed them. While Connor is on the mystery, Lev shows up. Lev is in the Graveyard only a short time before he leaves. Risa and Connor are worried about him but they are both busy so they try not to think about him. Connor thinks that an evil boy named Roland killed the assistants. He traps him in the box that killed the assistants but gives him air holes.
While Conner is doing this, a group of kids find the graves of the assistants. They think the ruler killed them so they attack the airplane he lives in. They trap him inside but he is with Risa. The mob rips the air conditioner out so they almost die from the heat. Connor realizes what is happening so he goes to try and help save Risa and the ruler. The airplane pilot admits he killed the assistants before he dies in the hands of the mob. Connor stops the crowd and gets Risa and the ruler out of the airplane. They fly the ruler to the hospital but get caught as runaway unwinds, or children that are sent to be unwound.
They are sent to Happy Jack Harvest Camp. Risa and Connor freak out when they see that Lev is there. Little did they know he is a clapper, or a person who puts explosives in their body. Right before Connor is about to be harvested Lev's friends clap and cause the building to explode. Risa is on the roof and Connor is inside though they both escape alive but injured. Lev is captured and put in a straight jacket so he can't clap. Clappers and injured kids cannot be unwound so Risa, Lev, and Connor are able to live.
Unwind is not for the faint of heart. If you like gory books then you wont be able to put it down.
★★★★(out of five)
© 2007 Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers p. 335
