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UnWholly Neal Shusterman 32630K 2023-08-31

There are videos and books in her rooh, because just as the harvest camp van had only happy, family-friendly enda as well They’re all about kids beingthe froer--as if Miracolina Roselli could possibly have anything in common with Holden Caulfield

There are also drawers filled with clothes in bright colors--all her size, and she shudders to think that they took her measurements and prepared a wardrobe while she was unconscious Her tithing whites have beco out of theedthat just says BOB

"I used to be a respected psychiatrist until I spoke out against unwinding," Bob tells her after the obligatory introductions "Being ostracized was a blessing in disguise, though, because it allowed me to come here, where I’m truly needed"

Miracolina keeps her ar She knohat this is all about They call it "deprogra with

"You used to be respected, which means you’re not anymore," she tells him, "and I don’t have respect for you either"

After a brief psych evaluation, which she refuses to take seriously, Bob sighs and clicks his pen closed "I think you’ll find," he says, "that our concern for you is genuine, and ant you to truly blossom"

"I’lass of flat root beer at the door as it closes behind him

She quickly discovers that her door is not locked Another trick? She goes out to explore the halls of thebeen abducted, she’s curious about what goes on here How ? How many captors are there? What are her chances of escape?

It turns out there are tons of other kids They hang out in dorm rooe and rot around the ht by other Bob-like people

She wanders into a social area with a sagging floor and a pool table propped up ood to keep it level One girl glances at her, singling her out, and approaches Her na says jackie

"Youher hand to shake, since Miracolina won’t extend it "I know it’s a tough adjustreat friends" Jackie has the look of a tithe, as do all the other kids here A certain cleanness and elevation above worldly things Even though no one wears a stitch of white, they can’t hide what they once were

"Are you assigned to etically "Yeah, kind of"

"Thanks for being honest, but I don’t like you, and I don’t want to be your friend"

Jackie, who is not a formerly respected psychiatrist, but just an ordinary thirteen-year-old girl, is clearly hurt by her words, and Miracolina irets them She must not allow herself to become callous and jaded She must rise above this

"I’ you do If you want to be nh," Jackie says "But friends or not, I’ra reached, Jackie returns to her friends but keeps an eye on Miracolina as long as she’s in the room

Timothy, the boy she was kidnapped with, is in the rooned to hireat friends Clearly Tira unwound anyway, all it took to deprograe of clothes

"How could you be soso shallow?" she says to him, when she catches him alone later in the day

"If that’s what you want to call it," he says, all siven a new puppy "But if it’s shalloant a life, then heck, I’h to make her sick She despises Ti faith could be traded for corned beef and cabbage

Jackie seeks her out later in the day--after Miracolina has determined that her "freedom" ends at a locked door, which keeps all the ex-tithes in a single wing of the mansion "The rest is still uninhabitable," Jackie tells her "That’s e’re only allowed in the north wing"

Jackie explains that their days are spent in classes designed to help them to adjust

"What happens to the kids who fail?" Miracolina asks with a s--just looks at her like it’s a concept she hasn’t considered

- - -

Within a few days, Miracolina has all she can stand of the classes The roup therapy where at least one person bursts into tears and is applauded by the others for doing so Miracolina usually says nothing, because defending tithing is frowned on by the faculty

"You have a right to your opinion," they all say if she ever speaks out against their deprogra you will eventually see otherwise" Which ht to an opinion

There’s a class infew schools actually teach It includes the Heartland War, the Unwind Accord, and everything surrounding theht up to the current day There are discussions about the splinter groups within ions that took upon the socially sanctioned "tithing cults"

"These weren’t grassroots an ealthy families--executives and stockholders inan example for the , then everyone should The tithing cults were part of a calculated plan to root unwinding in the national psyche"

Miracolina can’t keep herself fro her hand "Excuse me," she tells the instructor, "but I’ cult So how do you account for me?"