I wish I had Michael Jackson's ankles...

          If we were living in Neal Shusterman's fictional world of his latest novel Unwind, that might actually be possible. I could have the ankles of Michael Jackson, the critical ears of Simon Cowell, and the legs of a marathon runner.
          Connor, Risa, and Lev star as the central characters to the 2011 Abraham Lincoln Award Nominated novel Unwind.  The story is about these three "unwinds": kids between the ages of thirteen and eighteen who have been labeled as unworthy by their parents/guardians to be sent away to Harvest Camp where their entire bodies will be taken apart and given to others who need organ or body part donations.  For real.  And everyone in the novel seems perfectly okay with this, that is, except for the Unwinds.
          The novel is hauntingly similar to the ideas and thrills of The Hunger Games but with its own twists and turns.  The narration is interesting, compelling even.  With every chapter, the narrator changes.  That keeps the pages turning and the mystery boiling.  Connor is a rebellious yet likable character, Risa is spunky and Katniss-like, and Lev transforms from an irritating kid to an admirable young man.  These three characters are pushed together by fate as they all attempt, in one way or another, to escape their own unwinding.  The characters never stay in one place for a long time, which is great because it keeps the pace of the novel moving.
          There is certainly enough action to keep readers interested and genuine emotion experienced by the characters, yet the novel did not live up to the quality of Hunger Games for me.  Have any of your read it?  What are your thoughts?