by Patrick T. Kilgallon
A high school style satire on how the disabled people are perceived by the nondisabled people.
A Dystopian Novel in the Footsteps Of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaiden's Tale, Stephen King's The Long Walk, And George Orwell's 1984.
Michael Poole, a seventeen-year-old deaf ward of the Gate, wants a few things. A girlfriend. A chance to play hockey. Good times. But the blockheads and the Watchers have other plans for him. Like not leaving the Gate. Not causing trouble. And to remain still and calmly wait for the day of his own taking.
The story explores a malevolent world in different ways. In dialogues spoken in English with smatters of Spanish and Spanglish. In signed pidgins like Signed Exact English. In signs like American Sign Language. In a few riddles and symbolic drawings. In streams of consciousness of Michael Poole's mind. Only to discover the final policy for the wards of the Gate, never welcomed by the general population of a perfect world.
“This emotionally challenging story is definitely not for everyone. The tale postulates a big if.. what would happen if the world got tired of the handicapped and placed them in prisons reminiscent of the Nazi death camps? I found this story full of insight into what it must be like to be deaf in a society that looks down on you because you have difficulties. Do not doubt that story is grim and unforgiving, however, it is well-written and establishes the mood extremely well from page one. ”
Bradley on goodreads
“ Intense... just pure concentrated intensity. When I read The Road sometime ago my only comment about it was I thought it too dark and gloomy from page one to the last. Gather the Weeds makes The Road seem like a happy little fairy tale with cute bunnies hopping among the daisies while sunbeams twinkle in the crystal air... really. It is horror. ”
Brian on goodreads
“ Experiencing the way a young man's mind expands as everything in his world closes in is something I won't soon forget. This novel challenged my ideas and reframed tired concepts like individual strengths and weaknesses. Congratulations to Mr. Kilgallon. He captures the blade to the grindstone feel of a young man sharpening his awareness in a silent world. ”
Elizabeth on goodreads
I am an author of 'gather the weeds' the first of the serials based on a dystopian world that I created.