Suicide is an upcoming epidemic. It’s killing one in every three teens. The Program was created to end this, to make depressed people under 18 ‘happy’ again.  As the book states, “After all, suicide is contagious.” When sent here, all of the memories that can cause depression, sadness and anger are stripped from the patient’s brain.

The Program, by Suzanne Young, follows Sloane as she struggles to stay out of The Program, including lying to the people in charge and herself. She has struggled to maintain her happiness since her brother committed suicide while she was with him. Friends have been ripped from her, coming back as different people.  Her boyfriend, James Murphy, is sent to The Program, which causes Sloane to become depressed, suicidal and eventually flagged to become a patient in The Program herself.

Once she is forced in, she fights continuously until a plot twist flips the story upside down, confusing both the reader, Sloane and other characters in the book. The Program leaves off with a cliff-hanger, making us want to read The Treatment and The Remedy.

This book caught me by the cover, two kids dressed in yellow scrubs in a long white hallway, why were they dressed like this? I immediately had to find out, and I found the overall summary interesting. As I was reading, I found the book went quickly because I was constantly wanting to read more. If you’re going to read The Program, make sure to have lots of time, as you won’t want to put it down!