A Girl Called Fearless/Catherine Linka/353 pgs.

This debut novel by Catherine Linka has me hoping she has more stories like this waiting to be written. In a Dystopian United States, 50 million women died from cancer due to ingesting a synthetic hormone in beef. As a result, young girls, old women, men, and young men are left to rebuild the United States. The book takes place 10 years after the tragedy occurs, with 16 year old Avie Reveare living a "normal" privileged life in Los Angeles. Although the death threat is past, fathers form a movement known as the Paternalists--a movement to protect their daughters, since future generations and re-population of the United States depend on them. Daughters are constantly monitored, and in the case of privileged girls like Avie, have body guards--there is no freedom or women's rights. Avie's father "contracts" her out to marry a wealthy man who has bought up stock in his biotech company. Not wanting this marriage, Avie does the only thing left to do--run. With the help of her friend, Yates, and others involved in the underground movement to free women, Avie takes off. This review isn't doing the book justice--it's one of the best YA books I've read, and grabs the reader from the first page. It's told in Avie's voice, so the reader experiences the emotions Avie is going through, and keeps the reader in suspense through the end of the book. Highly recommended!