***SPOILERS!!!***
Alongside recently published novels like Unwind and the Adoration of Jenna Fox, Skinned is about a teen who has lost control of her own body. After a horrific freak car accident, Lia's body is un-salvageable. Her parents give the order to have her brain downloaded into a computer and she's given a newly constructed body, made of artificial materials. Uber-religious folks hate the "skinners," and believe they have no souls once their brains are downloaded. Lia agrees that she doesn't feel like herself, and is having lots of trouble mastering the art of controlling her new body's interface. For teens who really love out-of-body scifi, this might be a good pick. I'm not especially intrigued by the promised 2 sequels, as I just never really engaged with Lia's story. I much preferred the mystery/suspense angle of Jenna Fox, and would recommend that to the average reader over this pick. The ethical issues of perpetual consciousness (it's mentioned in the book that she can hop from body to body infinitely) and corporeal essence as part of being "human" are sidetracked by a romance with a skinner fetishist, racial conflict (several young Hispanic/African youths are early experimental recipients and are given white prototype bodies) and other random family conflict. If the sequels give all these issues their own space, then I may revisit this.