The Bar Code Tattoo

The Bar Code Tattoo
Reviewed by Kelly Wang

I recently finished a book that left me in deep thought. It is titled The Bar Code Tattoo.
The story begins with a girl named Kayla who is having a meeting with her guidance counselor. It is in the future and times have certainly changed and technology is far more advanced. Everyone now has an imprint on their arm... of a bar code. The purpose of the bar code, or so they say, is so people no longer need to carry cash or any form of ID. Also, the bar code is supposed to come in handy when people are rushed to the hospital because all of their medical records would be known immediately.

As Kayla and her counselor discuss her issue about the art college she wants to attend, she can't help but notice the tattoo on his arm. She leaves feeling awfully depressed because she has no chance of getting into the college of her choice because she is bad with computers. After this scene, strange things begin to happen to her family - this is right after her father and mother get their bar code tattoos. Her father gets laid off and her parents start to fight constantly.

One day, Kayla joins a group that is against bar code tattoos. From the other group members, she learns that strange things keep happening to people who have bar code tattoos. Some people from far off countries have been known to try anything to have the tattoos removed. When Kayla returns home from the meeting, she sees her father being loaded into an ambulance. Her mother tells her it was the tattoo that did it, that her father has committed suicide!

In the end, Kayla finds out everything about the power of the tattoo and that information ranges from advanced knowledge of diseases to the fact that the tattoo basically controls everyone who has it! I won't spoil anymore, but I really recommend this book, particularly because it contains, sci-fi, suspense, horror, and even a bit of romance.