The Program

A mix of Delirium and The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Program is a vaguely dystopian novel about a society in which teens are afraid to show any emotion. Teen suicide has become a widespread epidemic and adults believe that the only answer is to treat suicidal tendencies like a disease to be eradicated, and their cure is The Program. Any teen who displays any hint of depression or could be deemed "at risk" is forcibly entered into the Program which basically wipes their memories. Sloane and her boyfriend, James have to be especially careful not to show their grief for Sloane's brother after his suicide, lest they become targets, but as pressures mount and their support system crumbles, it gets harder and harder to suppress their emotions. First in the The Program series, The Program is at its core a love story. Can the love of these two teens overcome their forced memory wipe? Though they are few, the speculative elements of the book raise quite a lot of provocative questions about the nature of memory as well as the ethics of how depression is treated. It's a great book for discussion, but it's also an emotional roller coaster. Read this one with a box of tissues on hand.