Teen, Inc.

If you think your parents are bad, imagine being raised by a corporation. Jaiden Beale is the first teenager ever to be adopted by a corporation after his parents are killed by malfunctioning equipment made by the company. Now, NECorp has legal custody of Jaiden and will be giving him a small fortune in compensation for the deaths of his parents when he turns eighteen. Until then, managers are in charge of all aspects of Jaidens life, and they try to make it as normal a life as possible. After all, nobody at NECorp wants the media hearing any negative news about how Jaiden is being raised. One of a corporations most important assets is its reputation, and NECorp is intent on Jaiden turning out well, if not for his sake, for NECorps sake.

Jaiden was just a baby when his parents died, and being raised by NECorp is all he can remember. Instead of living in a normal house, he has a suite in the company headquarters. The company cook, rather than his mom makes his breakfast everyday. And only recently was Jaiden allowed to attend a public school. Jaidens life is planned through corporate meetings, and hes always just gone along with it.

When Jaiden meets Jenny, a girl he has been crushing on from afar, and they are assigned to do a biology project together, Jenny discovers Jaidens secret. She doesnt think he is a freak for his parental circumstances, but there is one small problem. Jennys dad works for a company that tests water, and NECorps has been polluting the local water with outrageous levels of mercury. This pollution is making people sick and raising levels of autism in the area, but NECorps has managed to keep all of this information hush-hush. Jenny and her father are determined to expose the truth, and Jaiden must decide whether he will side with his new friend, or his parent company.

Teen, Inc. by Stefan Petrucha is fun corporate fiction. Jaiden manages to stand up and do what is right, even though what is right is not always easy. It can be so difficult to rebel against the system, but if your heart is in the right place, there is no telling what you can accomplish. Much of the book is quite unbelievable, and there are times when the plot is downright silly. But if readers can suspend all disbelief, they are in for a treat, with a story that is comparable to 1984, only with a happy ending.