The Limit

by Kristen Landon

Matt lives in a society where all families are given a "limit" to their debt. Once a family goes over the limit they must complete some program to bring them back under the limit. One of those options is to send one of their children to a work camp where they work they do will help to pay off the debt. Matt never worries about this until one day his family unexpectedly goes over the limit. Before he knows it a big black vehicle arrives at his house and a small syrupy lady and some large men cart Matt off to the nearest work center.

The work center isn't what Matt imagined. He lives in a plush apartment on the top floor, doing exciting work during the day and playing in the pool and gym in the evenings. However, some things don't seem quite right. Matt phone doesn't work in the building, none of his emails seem to be going through, and kids keep getting headaches and then disappearing. Matt soon decides he needs to get to the bottom of this. The question is, once he figures it out, what will he do about it?

This book is a little hard for me to review. I enjoyed it. As a kids' book it's great. It's got an interesting plot, surprising twists and turns, fun characters, etc. I'd recommend it to many kids.

However, it's pretty much strictly a kids book. Some books in the kid section seem to transcend it and find a way to be relevant or thought-provoking to an older reader. While this book was great fun, it doesn't really have any of that. It's just a cool story.