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    UnStrung: An Unwind Story
    UnStrung: An Unwind Story
    UnStrung: An Unwind Story
    Ebook113 pages1 hour

    UnStrung: An Unwind Story

    By Neal Shusterman and Michelle Knowlden

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    How did Lev Calder move from an unwillingly escaped Tithe to a clapper? In this revealing short story, Neal Shusterman opens a window on Lev’s adventures between the time he left CyFi and showed up at the Graveyard.

    Pulling elements from Neal Shusterman’s critically acclaimed Unwind and giving hints about what is to come in the riveting sequel, UnWholly, this short story is not to be missed.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
    Release dateJul 24, 2012
    ISBN9781442472778
    UnStrung: An Unwind Story
    Author

    Neal Shusterman

    Neal Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty award-winning books for children, teens, and adults, including the Unwind dystology, the Skinjacker trilogy, Downsiders, and Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award. Scythe, the first book in his series Arc of a Scythe is a Michael L. Printz Honor Book. He also writes screenplays for motion pictures and television shows. Neal is the father of four, all of whom are talented writers and artists themselves. Visit Neal at StoryMan.com and Facebook.com/NealShusterman.

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    Reviews for UnStrung

    4/5

    98 ratings11 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This is a nice short read, but answers some important questions about what happened to Lev in the in-between time when the reader loses sight of him for a while during the first book. Because it's a novella, one really can't expect to get too terribly drawn in by the time it ends, and yet I did indeed come to care about these new characters, however brief their appearances. Definitely worth reading as part of reading the series, not just for the new insight into the story but for the story in its own right.
    • 4/5
      I never did read this book between the first book Unwind, and the second book UnWholly, so this novela probably didn't make as much of an impact on me as it might have. However, on the other side of the coin, having read the whole series before coming to this novella, I could appreciate where Lev is at this point in his life, knowing where he'll go. Not necessary to complete the series, but a nice interlude.
    • 3/5
      This short story follows Lev at a point in time when he disappeared during the events of Unwind. He escapes into a Native American reserve where he befriends a 16 year old musician and learns that on the reserves, they are (mostly) safe from being unwound due to signed treaties.It was ok. I was actually liking the new setting and characters, but being a short story, it ended too soon, I thought. I wanted more with these characters.
    • 4/5
      It was good!! I totally loved this insight into Lev’s character and past, and it does make perfect sense. I can’t wait to pick up the sequel now!
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this. It was a nice novella to get me back into the world after a long break from the 1st one. The narration was good, and I liked the new characters that were introduced.
    • 5/5
      This book answers my post-Unwind questions. Thank you so much for the author.
    • 5/5
      I like how Shusterman covered all his bases with these books. The stories are so detailed and the world seems so real... Fine dystopian fiction.
    • 4/5
      The almost last part is like a daydream...and actually awkward.
    • 3/5
      This short novella attempts to shed some light on what Lev was doing after he left Cy-Fi, but before he arrives at the airplane Graveyard. Basically, he finds himself in an American Indian reservation (although they are now called ChanceFolk), which for Unwinds is a "safe zone." The story itself was okay, but I didn't feel it added much to the whole Unwind saga. I could easily give or take this one.
    • 4/5
      Oh Why so short? I wanted more! Like someone else wrote, I am now curious to why Neal Shusterman decided to take this little side road with Lev.

      I think it has something to do with Cam's story but hey I am sure that is obvious. :)

      When O when will book 3 be published? I can't wait. Favourite series of 2012 for me!
      If you love this series I think this little book is worth it!
    • 4/5
      I wish we'd gotten a little MORE into what happened to Lev. I love the story that we got, but I'd love to see what happens after he leaves the rez until he gets to the Graveyard. I was very sad about all the things that went down toward the end, but it does give a little insight into what made Lev so bitter in Unwind. A great little addition to the series, if you like getting to know characters better.

    Book preview

    UnStrung - Neal Shusterman

    Cover: UnStrung, by Neal Shusterman and Michelle KnowldenUnStrung, by Neal Shusterman and Michelle Knowlden, S&S Books for Young Readers

    1 • Lev

    Do it for him, a woman says, her voice quiet but steeped in authority.

    Mired in a numbing gray fog, Lev feels her cool fingers on his neck, taking his pulse. His throat hurts, his tongue feels like chewed leather, his left wrist aches, and he can’t open his eyes.

    Not yet, Ma.

    Like his eyes, Lev’s lips won’t open. Who is it who just spoke? Maybe one of his brothers. Marcus, perhaps? No, the voice is wrong. And no one in his family is so informal as to call their mother Ma.

    All right, he hears the woman say. You decide when he’s ready. And don’t forget your guitar.

    The sound of footsteps recedes, and Lev slips back into darkness.

    •

    When he wakes again, his eyes open, but only a sliver. He’s alone in a large bedroom with blinding-white walls. A red, woven blanket covers him. Beneath him he can feel a smooth and expensive cotton sheet, like the ones he once knew. He’s on a bed that’s low to the ground, and beyond its foot he sees the fur of a mountain lion on the slate floor. He shudders at the sight of it. An oak bureau faces him. It has no mirror, and for the moment he’s glad.

    Forcing his eyes wider, he sees unshuttered windows on the far wall, the light beyond them weakening to dusk. Or is it strengthening to dawn? There is a nightstand next to him. A stethoscope is coiled there, and for a brief, devastating moment he thinks that he’s been discovered and taken to a harvest camp. Despair presses him against the cotton sheet, and he sinks into the fog that fills his head, confusing dreams with delirium and making a mockery of time. He drifts through the fog until he hears—

    When he wakes, get his name. It’s a different voice. Deeper. The council can’t give him sanctuary without a name.

    Cool fingers touch his wrist again. I’ll keep that in mind. He senses the woman leaning over him. He can hear her breathing. She smells of sage and smoky cottonwood. It’s comforting. Now leave us be.

    He feels a prick in his upper arm, like a tranq dart, but not. The world goes hazy—but not like the fog. This is a different kind of sleep.

    Suddenly he’s standing in a yard, near a briefcase covered in mud that lies halfway down a hole. Outside the picket fence, police are sidling toward him. No, it’s not him they’re interested in—it’s the skinny umber kid with him. CyFi’s hands overflow with gold chains and glittering stones of every color. He’s pleading with the sienna-colored man and woman, who clutch each other, staring at the kid in terror.

    Please don’t unwind me. CyFi’s words are hoarse and choked with sobs. Please don’t unwind me. . . .

    A cool hand touches Lev’s cheek, and the memory is sucked in like a mental gasp. He left CyFi days ago. He’s somewhere else now.

    You’re safe, child, the woman’s reassuring voice says. Open your eyes.

    When he does, he sees her pleasant face smiling at him. Square jaw, black hair tied back, and bronze skin, she’s a—SlotMonger! he blurts, and feels his skin flush red. I’m sorry . . . I didn’t mean . . . It just came out . . .

    She chuckles. Old words die hard, she tells him, with infinite understanding. We were called Indians long after it was obvious we weren’t from India. And ‘Native American’ was always a bit too condescending for my taste.

    ChanceFolk, Lev says, hoping his SlotMonger slur will quickly be forgotten.

    Yes, the woman says. People of Chance. Of course the casinos are long gone, but I suppose the name had enough resonance to stick.

    He sees the stethoscope around her neck—the one he at first incorrectly thought belonged to a harvest-camp surgeon.

    You’re a doctor?

    A Woman of Medicine, yes—and as such I can tell you that your cuts and bruises are healing, and the swelling of your wrist is much reduced. Leave the brace on till I give you leave to shed it. You need to gain a few pounds, but once you taste my husband’s cooking, that shouldn’t be a problem.

    Lev watches warily as she sits on the edge of his bed and studies him.

    But your spirit, child, is a vastly different matter.

    He withdraws, and her lips purse ruefully.

    Medicine women know that healing takes time, some more time than others. Tell me one thing, and I’ll leave you to rest.

    He stiffens, reflexively on his guard. What?

    What is your name?

    Lev Calder, he says, and regrets it immediately. It’s been almost three weeks since he was dragged by Connor from his limo, but the Powers That Be are still looking for him. It was one thing to be traveling with CyFi, but to give a doctor his name—what if she turns him over to the Juvenile Authority? He thinks of his parents, and the destiny he left behind. How could he have wanted to be unwound? How could his parents have made him want it? It fills him with an unrelenting fury at everyone and everything. He’s not a tithe anymore. He’s an AWOL now. He’d better start thinking like one.

    Well, Lev, we’re petitioning the Tribal Council to allow you to stay. You don’t have to tell me all you’ve been through—I’m sure it was horrible. And then her eyes brighten. "But we People of Chance do believe in people of second chance."

    2 • Wil

    He stands in the doorway watching the boy sleep. His guitar hangs down his back, warm from the sun, strings still humming.

    He doesn’t mind being here, though he was sorry to have to leave the forest. His time accompanying the sounds of shivering leaves, whirling dust devils, and powerful Chinook winds was special to him. There was calming joy in transposing nature to music. Adapting the chords of yellow-shouldered blackbirds, prairie dogs, and wild pigs. Bringing their voices into each movement he played.

    Wil brought Dad’s leftover blackberry crumble to the forest with him. Una brought some elk jerky and a thermos of cinnamon-spiced chocolate. She sat with him beneath a spreading oak while he played, although she left before he finished, as it was her turn to clean the workshop.

    His guitar always sounds a little melancholy when Una leaves.

    The AWOL boy that his mother has taken into their home has been awake for a day now, but he hasn’t come down for anything, even meals. Dad offered to carry him, but Ma said he needed more time.

    Can’t fret over AWOLs, his father told her. They never stay long, and they’re too desperate to be grateful. But Ma just ignores him. She’s taken the boy under her protection, and that is that.

    Wil wonders how the boy can sleep when the sun blasts from the windows over his head and the roar of tribal construction in town echoes down the ravine. The boy’s chest rises and falls, and then his legs churn beneath the sheets as if he’s running. Wil is not surprised: AWOLs know much about running. Sometimes he thinks that’s all they know.

    Wil is confident the boy will be calmed. Wild animals, rattlesnakes, and feral teenagers go quiet in Wil’s presence. Even when his guitar hangs silent on his back, his presence calms them—perhaps in anticipation of what he’ll deliver. Although Wil’s just a teenager himself, he’s got old-soul style, a storyteller vibe that he got from his grandfather—

    But he doesn’t want to think about his grandfather now.

    While he considers what music may reach this AWOL, the boy wakes. His wide pupils constrict, revealing pale blue eyes that focus on Wil standing in the doorway.

    Wil takes

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