The Predicteds

In a near future when human behavior can be perfectly predicted by computer, Daphne Wright starts her junior year at the high school where the new technology was tested, Quiet High in Quiet, Okla. A school shooter disrupts the quiet and throws Daphne into the arms of Jesse, a cute guy reputed to have stalked his previous girlfriend. Nevertheless, Daphne lets herself become enchanted with Jesse%E2%80%94until the latest test results are published, and his name appears on the list of "predicteds," students singled out by the computer as "criminal" or "antisocial." Despite the apparent emphasis on questions of free will, nature versus nurture, and flawed social institutions, this is not a dystopian novel. First-time author Seifert does not seem to be interested in the wider-world consequences of her premise. The only impact of this revolutionary and deeply troubling technology is individual, and the pushback against it surprisingly minimal. Her conceit is too big and too thinly conceived for what otherwise would be an enjoyable teenage love story between two quirky but believable outsiders. Ages 13%E2%80%93up. (Sept.)