Peter Dickinson - Eva

Pros: Great premise but even better follow-through. Dickinson's writing really shines.
Cons: Silly future slang. And it keeps making me want to quote Planet of the Apes.

If I were an up-and-coming screenwriter and I was to pitch the book “Eva” to, oh I dunno, Harvey Weinstein for a potential film, I’d do so in this manner: “I got five words for you, Harvey. Girl’s brain in monkey’s body”. Which is all anyone who has ...

Pros: Interesting idea - a girl's brain in a chimp's body
Cons: Too many minor characters, dragging plot

The story of Eva takes place in a time when most animals are extinct, when billions of people can live in one city, and when we have the technology to successfully transfer a person's brain into another animal's body and have the human function normally....

Pros: Good buildup--neither too obvious nor too way-out; vivid carry-out.
Cons: If you're uncomfortable with the basic plot. Otherwise, nothing serious.

At age 13, Eva Adamson is seriously injured in a car accident. When she finally starts to awaken from a lengthy coma, her mother doesn't seem to want her to wake up too quickly; then she doesn't want her to move much or to see herself in the mirror. When ...