REVIEW: The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen

[Meg Seth]

The Gardner

I was astounded by this novel on multiple levels. It is a very mature novel, commenting on societal and environmental issues as well as young adult experiences and relationships. The story is that of Mason, a large-boned high school boy who plays football and loves biology. His life is fairly normal, despite an absent father and a mother who drinks her problems away until he meets Laila at the nursing home his mother works in. Laila is a girl who seems comatose until she hears a line read on Mason’s tape of his father, the only artifact he has from his unknown dad. She awakens startled, with no idea who she is or where she has been, but she has mysterious scars and an inability to eat or drink real, human food. She also seems unnaturally dependent on the sun, and speaks of a strange, and terrifying figure that she refers to as “The Gardner.” Mason takes her away, leading him on an adventure that challenges his notions of environmentalism, his mother’s past, and what it means to be a hero. They discover secrets about his past and that of TroDyn laboratories that change their lives forever.
This novel has strong environmentalist elements as well as YA ones. The novel directly addresses the food and nutrition crisis within the frame of Mason’s adventurous road to self-discovery. The idea of science as authority is questioned, and the line between right and wrong is unclear in regards to TroDyn’s “gardening” project. The whole point of the program is to help humanity evolve beyond a need for food, but in the process TroDyn is denying their adolescent subjects access to a normal life. The novel questions the idea of scientific and parental authority while highlighting the very real threat of global degeneration. Overall, I was rather impressed with its sociopolitical scope.
As far s the YA elements go, this novel is quite solidly rooted in the genre. The book is fast-past, narrated by a young adult character, and challenges adult authority repeatedly. I think this book makes an excellent statement on the need of teens to become informed about environmental and other political issues. The novel seems to be posing a question to its readers: what would you do in Mason’s situation? This question, and other questions like it, are important for young adults to consider and develop a grasp on social and political issues that will affect them as adults. How do you feel about this? Should YAL be actively posing political queries and challenging its readers? How should teens be exposed to political and social discourse?

 

Here are the links related to the book (the first link includes an interview with the author)

http://girlsinthestacks.com/reviews/ya-novel/2010/11/review-the-gar...

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7173435-the-gardener

[Sean]

I was slightly impressed, but I thought it could've been much better. It had great potential. It reminded me of a lesser Gemma Malley book. (I suggest The Declaration and The Resistance by Malley.) Here was my review for the publishers:

 

The Gardener is a tale that unravels a mystery behind a local company that seemingly does good deeds. Mason even wanted to apply for a fully-paid scholarship and in return be contracted to work there for five years. But when he angrily visits his mom at work after finding out that she worked for the company, he finds four people his own age are catatonic, until he plays the video of his father reading to calm him down. Then one, who is the most beautiful girl he's ever seen, reacts to the video. With this odd occurrence, Mason is pulled into the situation, which snowballs when he helps her escape the compound and run away. But when her health begins to fade the longer she's away, he doubts what is right. The more Mason finds out, the more horrific the situation becomes.

 

The Gardener is a suspenseful sci-fi thriller that does not create a sense of being a thriller. It seems empty of the tense feelings one should have when reading it. While the main character is noble and righteous, it's very forced, as is the plot. It's very choppy and not much motivation behind character actions. While the image of creating self-sustaining people is creepy, especially the way they do it. But the execution is too light. If the girl he rescues is more enigmatic and if the end results were less obvious from the beginning, it might be more gripping. The events unfold too quickly at the end, giving a rushed pace as opposed to the slow pace at the beginning. Themes are overt and not at all subtextual, making it blatant message to the government, but it is an important, pleading to the government to think about future generations, not just the now. The book's cover is haunting and reflective of the inside, a well-created vision of the words that lie in its grasp.