Feed by M.T. Anderson YP FIC ANDERSON

“We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.”

Titus and his friends live on and for the Feed, a computer in their brains that from birth feeds them information and connects them to everyone, everything, and nothing. They can chat with their brains, watch video, look up any fact or figure in an instant, malfunction their brains for fun, and be fed ads tailored to their very thoughts. So why then are they all so bored?  Why does Titus feel so mal when he should feel meg? Who is this Violet chick coming off like she’s all brag and everyone else is so null?  And then when they all get hacked and Titus can’t access his feed for actual whole DAYS, what will he do? When he actual has for real feelings for Violet what will he do with them? What will he buy next?  

This is a viscously dark satire of the extremes of consumer culture and the vapidity of modern communication. It’s a dystopia as chilling and relevant as anything by George Orwell or Aldous Huxley. And it isn’t just a technophobic screed about “Those Darn Kids With Their Texting and the Whatnot” either. Adult society is also skewered well and full. The world of Feed is one where the planet is polluted beyond repair, war is ever-present and completely ignored, and mass violence is just another software glitch.  What makes this world so frightening is how little any of the characters in it care about anything that isn’t Fun and on the Feed.  Things like peoples skin falling off is just an everyday occurrence and they just buy more stuff to ignore it. Anderson shows a lot of the dark sides of a consumer culture.  There always has to be more stuff to buy to keep the machines of industry going, and when what we buy becomes who we are then a world like Feed becomes possible.

However, the characters aren’t all mindless drones to serve a big message for the author.  Anderson makes the major characters feel very real with believable limitations and drives, this makes the world he creates more real and more terrifying.  I also love that the character of Violet isn’t just there to Wake People Up and there isn’t a global conspiracy to unmask and no one successfully fights the feed and starts a global movement.  Violet’s just a girl that wants more out of life, but she has flaws and just wants to be happy like anybody else. Honestly, I think everyone should give Feed a chance. It’s not always fun, but it’s always darned interesting.  It tackles so many big ideas that it can be dizzying, but it never tells you what to think about it. I honestly think that it’s way more relevant than Brave New World or 1984 to most young people today and should definitely be on more High School reading lists.  Check it out for yourself.

You can check our catalog for Feed here.

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler YP FIC ASHER

In the long ago past of 1995 Josh and Emma are neighbors and former best friends.  Things got awkward and they don’t want to talk about it! But when Josh gets a free AOL CD (google it kids!) in the mail his mom insists that tech savvy Emma helps install it. Strangely the home page is an odd website called Facebook.  Emma eventually manages to log on and finds that she already has an account…15 years into the future!!!  Now Emma and josh know what their future holds and every little change they make in their life seems to change their Facebook future!  Will knowing their future ruin their present?  Can you pick the life you really want?

Okay, there is NO WAY that a Facebook page of the NOW will load in any reasonable time on a PC running AOL from 1995.  For teens of today just know that you live in a golden age of technological advancement and feel blessed.  Besides that MINOR quibble this book is fantastic.  Told in the alternating perspectives of Josh and Emma, we bounce between characters frequently enough to keep things interesting, but not so fast that we get dizzy.  The premise is just so great that I’d normally be skeptical that the writing would equal it, but with Asher and Mackler you know you’ll get something special.  They both are great at getting inside a character’s head and making them feel real with small touches.  The book really looks at our current obsession with social media and how we try to live our lives constantly being watched by others.  Emma and Josh are obsessed with what Facebook tells them about their future, but they learn quickly that it’s hard to really KNOW anyone on Facebook.  

Another great touch in the book is the slow build romance.  It feels utterly genuine and warm and sweet, without ever overwhelming the focus of the book or being the only thing that defines Josh or Emma.  Having multiple authors helps both characters to have their own lives and problems and unique reactions to shared situations.  I also love that they made it hard for Emma and Josh to believe what is happening.  Far too many teen books insert something wholey improbable like future technology or magic to characters that have never encountered it and the character just goes, “Oh well, magic is real I guess.”  No.  That is silly.  I would go absolutely crazypants if I saw my Facebook for a week from now today, much less 15 years from now and during a time Facebook wasn’t born yet. A lot of the reality and weight of the situation works because this improbable set up is treated realistically.  It keeps you drawn in and feel invested in Josh and Emma.  This is a great read with a great premise and a great story and great characters.  If you want something that is both realistic and has a touch of the fantastic, this is a can’t miss.

You can check our catalog for The Future of Us here.

Human.4 by Mike A. Lancaster YP FIC LANCASTE

You are obsolete.

Kyle Straker and his not friend/ex girlfriend (it’s complicated) Lilly agreed to be hypnotized at their small village’s crummy talent show so their friend wouldn’t die on stage. But after they wake up there is something different about everyone in town. Kyle, Lilly, and the two other hypnotees are the only ones that can move. When they are all about ready to completely go nuts they realize everyone is moving again. But now they’re different. And when Kyle and Lilly realize how different they will find that there is no going back.

This is a creepy, touching, sad, ingenious Sci-fi thriller that will make you think and feel. It is told through a future editor’s presentation of Kyle’s audio tapes. Occasionally the editor interjects a note for his audience to explain expressions that are foreign to his society. At first this adds an excellent amount of humor, showing how often anthropologists can misunderstand cultures and academics can misunderstand texts, but as the story goes on and Kyle and Lilly’s fate is revealed it becomes another part of their alienation. Really this book is a very eerie look at what would happen if everything you ever knew was changed in an instant. Like any truly good Sci-Fi it is a way to look at our world and lives through a different lens. Lancaster shows how technology can separate and alienate as well as connect people in an incredibly chilling way. What makes the story so effective is how realistically the characters react to the impossible seeming situation: sort of wander aimlessly, trying to figure out what’s behind the strange change in their town. I recommend this to anyone who wants to read something fun, thrilling, and thought provoking. Human.4 is an amazing debut novel and deserves to be a Sci-Fi classic.