Author:Sonia Levitin Binding: Paperback Published: 2000-08-08 ISBN: 038073298X Availability:
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"You are a criminal, Gemm 16884--aggressive, hostile, nonconforming. We have noted tendencies toward diversity in your gait, in your dreams, and most especially in your repeated persistence in"--the Elder cleared his throat--"making music."
Branded a deviant--and therefore a threat--to the utopian society of Conformity, Harmony, and Tranquility that exists in the year 2407, Gemm 16884 is given the choice between being recycled or undergoing a painful and mysterious cure. Gemm chooses the cure, and suddenly finds himself living the life of Johannes, a 16-year-old Jewish musician in starsbourg, Germany, in 1348, at the onset of the Black Death. As the pestilence spreads, the townspeople begin the accuse the Jews of causing the disease. Surrounded by hatred and horror, Johannes struggles to hold on to his family and faith as well as his belief in the basic goodness of human beings. But can he return to the future and become Gemm again after having known such emotions as pain. . .and love?
It is the year 2407, when everyone wears a mask to emphasize conformity, and tranquility has been implemented via genetics, drugs, and therapy. It is also the year 1348, the time of the Black Death in Strasbourg, France, and 16-year-old Gemm has been sent back from the future to cure his nonconformist desire to create music. In the past he is known as Johannes, the son of a wealthy moneylender in a small Jewish community that finds comfort and strength in the daily rituals of Judaic faith. But as the plague sweeps the land, terrified people in city after city scapegoat the Jews as the cause of their problems. Officials find it convenient to have someone to blame, and realize that they can wipe out their debts by torturing and burning the moneylenders and their families--but they play music all the while to make the horrible scene less dismal.
Sonia Levitin, whose exceptional young adult novels are often based in Jewish culture and identity (Escape from Egypt and The Singing Mountain, among others), draws on historical fact for this story's powerful emotional impact. The vivid details of ghetto life in the Middle Ages--the Sabbath peace, the enforced humiliations of moneylenders, Johannes' joy at his betrothal to his love Margarite--make the final holocaust scene overwhelmingly real, with layers of meaning that apply to our own times. The futuristic framing device adds additional flavor, evocative of Lois Lowry's The Giver. This is a book that both fantasy fans and pragmatic young readers will devour, and one that's rich with thoughtful ideas about racism, conformity, and the lessons of history. (Ages 10 and older) --Patty Campbell
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Good, but similiar to other things:
This was a good book--there are others on similiar topics that are better. What I did like it about it was that it wasn't about the holocaust but yet still managed to be about repression of Jewish people.
Anti-Semitism Through the Ages:
Far in the future, the year 2407, a society of perfection exists. Children are paired with a life partner from birth, someone perfectly compatible with themselves, with almost the same genetic structure: a twin. These sets of twins travel through life together, keep each other company, and are similar in most ways. Then again, most people in this society are similar. Each person wears a mask, so no person's true face is ever seen. They live in a state of perpetual peace and tranquility, with no passion for... more info
The Cure:
I thought The Cure was okay, it was confusing sometmes and the way they talk sounds strange. I didnt like it overall because I'm not in to these types of books.
The bookwas set in the future and everything was controlled and the same. If you weren't like every one else you were "recycled."
The main character is not conforming to society and the people in charge give hom two options a quik and painless death or "the cure." So he picks the cure and is sent off to a secret location were the... more info
The Cure:
I thought The Cure was okay. It was confusing sometimes and the way the people talked sounded strange. I didntlike the book overall because Im not into these types of books.
the setting was in the future and every thing was controlled and the same. If you werent like every one else you were "recycled."
the main character was not conforming to society and the people in charge give him the option of a quick painless death or "the cure." He picks "the cure" and is sent off to a secret location. The... more info
