Waterbound

by Jane Stemp

Book Overview

In a futuristic society sixteen-year-old Gem discovers that a group of handicapped people who call themselves the Waterbound live hidden beneath the City. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803719949
• ISBN13: 9780803719941
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: Dial Books
• Length: 229 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Very interesting book.

A very powerful well-written book. About the lives of several very real and interesting people, in a future world suffering not so much from an evil and tyrannical dictatorship in the traditional sense, as from 'managerialism' and bureaucracy carried to horrifying extremes. Builds up to a powerful climax.

Interesting, but sad

I read this book a while ago, but I rememebr it rather well. It wasn't exactly very good, but it is a good learning experience. Telling people that you shouldn't think less of disabled people, especially the ones that are born into this world disabled. I think it has a sad ending, but I enjoyed it and I think it is quite good.

Disabled children have been exiled and left to die.

In a possible future, in which the environment has been so degraded by humans that they must all live in a strictly regulated environment, disabled children--considered unworthy of society's attention and expenditure--are exiled and left to die. 16-year-old Gem, through the intervention of her friend Jay, is shocked to discover the world of these disabled children and teens, who have been rescued from death by compassionate adults. This novel explores intriguing and very current questions about the environment, genetic engineering and social values. Gem, Jay, and the other teens--both abled and disabled--are engaging, fully-rounded characters who make mistakes and have to deal with the consequences. Though the story ends on an affirmative note, there are enough unresolved issues to keep the reader thinking long after reading the last page.