When Cassie's face is mutilated in an acid attack she doesn't think she'll ever be able to look in the mirror again. But a pioneering doctor offers to perform a revolutionary new procedure that will give Cassie a whole new face. It's at the swanky private clinic that Cassie first meets Wayne - another guinea pig for groundbreaking new treatment...Wayne helps Cassie through a gruesome transplant and they both hope to carry on with a 'normal' life. But there's something suspicious about the clinic and it's wealthy patients and, even more sinister, Cassie's new identity can't stop her past catching up with her...

Malcolm Rose's previous novels for teenagers have combined gripping stories with subjects which invite serious moral and ethical debate amongst readers. His latest is no exception, intertwining questions of medical ethics, politics and religion.

Cassie is a Catholic living in the violent sectarian world of Northern Ireland. Having already witnessed her best friend doused in petrol and set alight, Cassie, the daughter of a renegade republican, is attacked by an acid bomb thrown by extremist members of her father's organization. Taken for her own safety to a high security experimental medicine establishment in England, she is offered a face transplant: a revolutionary treatment for severe disfigurement in which the recipient has the remains of their own features surgically replaced by the face of a dead donor. She is befriended by Wayne, a diabetic, whose chaotic lifestyle makes him an obvious choice to trial blood-borne robots which will constantly monitor and treat his condition. However Cassie and Wayne discover that the pioneers of these treatments have other agenda apart from helping the victims of violence and disease, wishing to profit financially from their cosmetic use for rich, aging clients.

As Cassie and Wayne discover the alternative agendas, readers face the kind of ethical dilemmas which all branches of modern scientific discovery and research involve, and witness the possible horrific consequences the use of beneficial procedures not subjected to ethical restraints. The moral dilemmas posed by the conflict between different factions of politico-religious movements and their effect on families and loyalties are an equally important aspect of the novel. A powerful storyline which pulls no punches despite its youthful intended audience. Transplant would provide a wealth of discussion points for PSHE at Key Stage 3 and 4

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2008-08-10