In this chilling portrait of a possible future, a drug named Longevity is created that prolongs life indefinitely. However, because people are no longer dying, the world is becoming overcrowded. Regulations are created that prohibit parents from having children unless they decide not to take the drug. Despite this rule, children are born secretly and unlawfully and, when found, are rounded up, imprisoned in various institutions, and trained to be servants. The Declaration features the story of one of these "Surplus" children, called Anna, and her journey to discovering her value as a human being and right to live.I found this to be a fascinating book. It has a familiar theme of an overpopulated world with regulated child-bearing laws, slightly similar to that of "Among the Hidden" by Margaret Haddix. However, it was much creepier and more tense than that book and I thought the idea of training the illegal children to be servants was very interesting as well as the idea of an immortality drug. This book was so captivating that I stayed up all night just to read it--proof of an excellent book!
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