The Six

The Six
by Mark Alpert

From the publisher:
Adam's muscular dystrophy has stolen his mobility, his friends, and in a few short years, it will take his life. Virtual reality games are Adam's only escape from his wheelchair. In his alternate world, he can defeat anyone. Running, jumping, scoring touchdowns: Adam is always the hero.

Then an artificial intelligence program, Sigma, hacks into Adam's game. Created by Adam's computer-genius father, Sigma has gone rogue, threatening Adam's life-and world domination. Their one chance to stop Sigma is using technology Adam's dad developed to digitally preserve the mind of his dying son.

Along with a select group of other terminally ill teens, Adam becomes one of the Six who have forfeited their bodies to inhabit weaponized robots. But with time running short, the Six must learn to manipulate their new mechanical forms and work together to train for epic combat...before Sigma destroys humanity."

Sometimes science fiction books are chilling and un-nerving because they show things that could actually happen in our world. I felt like that with this book. Technology is increasing so quickly, and who knows what things are being worked on that we know nothing about? I'm pretty sure there is a lot of work going on in the Artificial Intelligence area that I am unaware of. This book is science fiction in the truest sense of the genre. It isn't dystopian, it isn't time travel, it is science. I loved that it made you think of all the ethical questions that would arise in these circumstances. 
Aside from all of the science, this was a gripping, exciting book. There is a ton of action and conflict. 
I cared about the characters - robot or not - and the plot was believable and intriguing. As a parent, I can only imagine the roads I would be willing to go to save my child, so I definitely had a lot of empathy for Adam's dad. I am ordering books 2 and 3 for our library.

Areas of concern:
*The whole premise of the book is that the teenagers all have terminal diseases and will die in 6 months or less.
*The moral and ethical questions that arise from the decisions that need to be made.
*There is fighting and violence.

Suggested Ages:
Kirkus Reviews - Ages 12-16
School Library Journal - Grades 8+