Bumped by Megan McCafferty

Megan McCafferty's young adult book Bumped is set in a dystopian America some twenty to thirty years in the future. A virus has rendered everyone sterile once they pass the age of eighteen, and suddenly, teens are in demand as baby factories. And once Melody Mayflower actually signs a contract to "bump" for a wealthy family, the floodgates are opened; all young girls set their sights on lucrative contracts in uterus-for-hire agreements. Melody's pay off may be the biggest of all: six figures, college expenses, and more, with her selected couple busy choosing just the perfect young man for her to pregg with. Life's going well until her identical twin sister, from whom she's been separated since a baby, arrives. Harmony was adopted into a religious community and sees Melody's choice as immoral, and it becomes Harmony's mission to "save" her sister.

There's lots going on in Bumped, and it's all very intriguing. Melody is annoyed with her twin suddenly appearing, clad head to toe in old-fashioned clothes and spouting Bible verses, and Harmony, while proud of her upbringing, seems to be harboring some strong secrets of her own. Melody's parents are MIA, off traveling on the expected money Melody is going to earn when she fulfills her contract. Meanwhile, there is Zen, Melody's male friend who maybe feels more for Melody than she'd expected. When Melody's agent calls with the outstanding news that her contracted couple has secured the hot sperm donor teen hero, Jondoe, as her bumping partner, she should be ecstatic, only it isn't Melody who takes the call...it's Harmony. And what happens next sets events in motion that neither sister could have foreseen.

I like dystopian novels, and Bumped is no exception. While I might have wished for Harmony's Christian heritage to seem a little less Amish/fundamentalist, I think the polarizing lives of the twins is well done, with the secrets the two harbor giving added dimension to what might have been just another relationship tale. I *still* don't know if I should trust playboy Jondoe or not, and I was cheering Zen on from the first time I saw him. The slang of the future is well done and consistent, and Melody's friends' plights show the dark side of what the society is doing to young girls who really aren't ready for what their bodies say they are. I admit I'm hooked and can't wait for the next installment. This one's thought provoking on many levels, with relatively naive teens facing huge consequences in the name of a "better" life. Recommended.

~taminator40