09. Pure

Baggott, Julianna. Pure. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2012.

Annotation: After the detonations, people of the dome look down on the deformed wretches managing to survive below with pity. Will their society survive actually meeting one of them?

Justification for rejection:
Pure tells the story of Pressia, a 16 year old girl who lives in the post-apocalyptic landscape of the eastern United States. She, like all the survivors of the detonations, has fused with the objects near her at the time of the detonations. Floating above the wreckage is the Dome, a refuge that a lucky few people managed to reach before the detonations. People in the dome are "pure", that is, they do not possess any deformities.

One resident of the Dome is Partridge, an adolescent who is about to receive his coding, which essentially reprograms a person to fit into what the leaders of the Dome have decided is necessary. Worlds collide when Pressia and Partridge eventually meet, and their preconceptions of the other are challenged.

This is an adult-market novel which has received the Alex award, meaning that it has been honored as an exceptional adult-market novel for teen readers. This novel certainly possesses many of the hallmarks of a great piece of YA literature. First and foremost is the heavy focus on a quest. This is most certainly the focus of the work, and both of the main characters on the novel are on their own quests, which intertwine wonderfully. Through this quest, the characters definitely come of age, and see both extremes in the world of good and evil. Characters changing from being juvenile and naive to mature and wise is certainly another hallmark of great YA literature.

The characters themselves are certainly relatable to the teen reader. They are adolescents themselves, and the challenges are definitely placed directly on their shoulders. The content examined is very "adult" in nature, and the horrors of the world are not hidden from the reader. These are all requirements of a work that an adolescent will relate to, and feel respected by.

The writing is very fast paced, and the story is expertly told. Neither of the main story lines ever drags, and the reader is left excited whenever the narration switches viewpoints.

This is a very excellent book, and one that any YA reader would likely enjoy reading. There is one aspect of the work that does not receive enough focus to achieve a recommendation. This is in its emotional content. The story itself is grounded in narrative, not in emotion. The story certainly does have emotional moments, but these are driven by occurrences in the plot. The emotional content that is present is well formed, and feels legitimate. There is just too little of it to truly be an exceptional YA work.

Pure is a great novel. However, when viewed through the lens of it's value as YA literature it only rises to the level of very good due. This is due to its lack of emotional focus.

Genre: ALEX Award Winner and/or Adult “Market” Author, Coming of Age, Science Fiction or Fantasy