Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Tor Teen
New York
2008 ISBN: 978-0-7653-1985-2
Plot Summary:
Marcus Yallow is your typical teenage high school boy--likes to play games, hang out with friends, and thumb his nose at authority. But where he's not so typical is in his prodigious knowledge of the internet, hacking, and technology. Combine these with his rebellious spirit, and problems come running after a terrorist attack in San Francisco.
Critical Evaluation:
Doctorow writes with a strenuous attempt at converging tech speak with realistic dialogue and storytelling. But, does it work? The novel's consistent forays into detailed technological description sometimes borders on propaganda, and never provides a transparent understanding. Further, the tale places the protagonist upon an elevated pedestal that is never truly questioned.
Reader's Annotation:
Marcus and his friends love to play role-playing games, hack intricate computer systems, and engage in city-wide treasure hunts. This last predilection ends up setting up the gang in a more dangerous game than any one of them could have ever imagined.
Genre:
Thriller/YA Fiction/Paranoia
Author Info:
Cory Doctorow is a technology activist, an essayist, and an author of several works of fiction. Little Brother won the Hugo Award for Best Fiction.
Reader Level/Interest Age:
Published under a teen reader label, its mature themes and highly technical language render it of interest to adults as well as teens.
Booktalking Ideas:
*Is Marcus a genious?
*Can anyone over 25 be trusted?
*Is technology your friend?
Challenge Issues:
Some sexual situations, violent situations involving detailed torture, extreme paranoia regarding the government's interference in the private lives of its citizens.
Answer to challenges:
The novel's supremacy in best-selling lists, its ubiquity on awards lists, and its relevance in post-Bush America render it required on any library shelf. These same qualities provide important justifications for its presence on the shelf.
Why Include?:
Little Brother is required reading for the YA Materials class in which I am currently enrolled.
