Being, Kevin Brooks; The Chicken House

“After having a routine exam that turns out to be anything but routine, Robert learns about the mechanical parts and plastic casings that make up his being, forcing him to flee the only world he has ever known and go on a dangerous search to find out who (and what) he is.”
Robin’s Note: Kevin Brooks has a lot of fun skating along the edge of what’s possible in this book.  What would happen if you woke up and weren’t quite human anymore?  He doesn’t concentrate on the science but instead on the confusion – how can you find out what you are now, and why would anyone do this?  The chase starts almost immediately, and doesn’t let up.

Ender's Game (Ender, Book 1), Orson Scott Card; Tor Science Fiction

“A veteran of years of simulated war games, Ender believes he is engaged in one more computer war game when in truth he is commanding the last fleet of Earth against an alien race seeking the complete destruction of Earth.”
Robin’s Note: If you haven’t already read Ender’s Game, it’s a classic for many reasons: a brilliant idea executed in clear but eloquent language.  The idea of using children to fight a war is not unheard of, of course, but Card takes the whole idea and tells if from the point of view of a reluctant child strategist whose brilliance makes him a target for his peers and his enemies.

Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins; Scholastic Press

“In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss’s skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister’s place.”
Robin’s Note: The Hunger Games has gathered quite a following, and with good reason: this thrill-ride of a book sets its story in a grim post-apocalyptic setting where teens combine in a combination of a glamorous reality TV show and deadly gladitorial combat.  Katniss is a great heroine, but the real story is the inventive threat of the arena, where all the district’s select fighters compete to the death.  Be warned: this title ends on a cliffhanger, and its sequel, Catching Fire, is just as gripping.  This will be a trilogy.