The Gardener by S. A. Bodeen

The Gardener by S. A. Bodeen is about Mason, a teen who lives with his single mom. In Mason's town, just about everything is run by TroDyn, a company that does biological research. Mason has been offered a chance for an internship with TroDyn, which would pay for his schooling in return for his promise to work for them after college. His mother is opposed to anything that has to do with TroDyn, but Mason doesn't know why. One evening when Mason's mom is at work, he looks through her drawers and finds a secret she's been keeping about his father and her own involvement with TroDyn in the past. Mason goes to the nursing home where she works to confront her, but finds something unexpected - she cares for teens who are in a catatonic state. While waiting for his mother, Mason pops in a video tape of his father reading a story. This causes one of the teens to awaken, terrified! Not knowing what else to do, Mason helps her escape to his friend's cabin in the woods. This starts a search that Mason could never have predicted. They are on the run, seeking help from the most unlikely places, including an author who used to work for TroDyn! It turns out that his new friend is actually an experiment! The biological engineers at TroDyn have altered her DNA so that she can produce her own food from the sun! The only problem is, she needs to be returned to TroDyn because she has a symbiotic relationship with the rest of the kids who were experimented on. Mason is reluctant to do this, but with help, is able to save her. In the process, Mason learns more about TroDyn's experiments, and his absent father, who is more involved in the TroDyn experiments than he could have imagined!

This was an AWESOME book! I couldn't put it down. I knew I'd like it after reading The Compound by S. A. Bodeen. This book made me really think about the hunger crisis in the world and the ethical implications of testing "good" ideas on humans. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure novels and/or science fiction.