The color of rain Cori McCarthy

351 pgs.

Target audience: Ages 13-17

Rating: Wizard

Rain has lost all members of her family, taken by the authorities, except her little brother, Walker, who desperately needs a cure for the Alzheimer-like disease that’s been decimating the population of Earth City. The sick, the Touched, are treated with contempt and disgust. Rain needs to get to the Edge where the Mecs could help him. To pay for this she’d do anything, even prostitution like her friend Lo. After Walker has an accident her plea for help is answered by a charming pilot, Johnny, and Ben, his Mec assistant. Johnny offers her safe passage in return for her complete willingness. Despite Ben’s whispered warnings she agrees. Once on board, Walker is frozen in a capsule for the duration. She awakens to find dozens of girls like herself including Lo classified by color and pimped out to crew and passengers. Rain is made a red which means she’s exclusively Johnny’s girl. Fierce competition and fear keep the girls alive. Johnny’s methods are cruel and sadistic and he’s intensely possessive of his redhead. Rain is determined to visit her brother and with Ben’s reluctant help she discovers the true mission of this strange ship and what it means to the missing Touched from Earth City. This well written story is fast paced, nerve-wracking, and disturbing all at the same time. Rain is a likeable character and her plight is so horrific that the reader can’t help but root for her. The sex is mercifully not romanticized and details glossed over but the violent punishment and retribution dealt by Johnny are graphic and not for the faint at heart. Rain’s terror of what Johnny might do to her brother and her confusion about Ben's motives for helping her ring true. Recommended for older teens. (This book provided for review by Children's Lit - www.childrenslit.com)