Little Brother

Title: Little Brother
Author: Cory Doctorow
Publisher: Tor Teen
Copyright: 2008
ISBN: 9780765319852

Reading Level/Interest Age: Grade 9 and up

Genre: Adventure/Thrillers--Espionage and Terrorism

Reader’s Annotation: In the aftermath of a terrorist attack on San Francisco, Marcus and his friends fight to win back the civil liberties the Department of Homeland Security has taken away using hacker technology.

Plot Summary
When Marcus (aka w1n5t0n, pronounced Winston) and his friends get picked up by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on San Francisco, Marcus’s insistence on his right to privacy angers his interrogators. He is finally let go after days of brutal questioning and humiliation, but is warned that he’s not free—the DHS will be watching him. When he gets out he discovers that the DHS is now watching everyone, employing unprecedented surveillance measures in the name of safety. Marcus, now going by Mik3y online, creates the Xnet, an alternative, untraceable Internet, and unwittingly starts a major underground movement. Soon he and the other Xnetters are sabotaging the DHS’s surveillance data, but they have to come up with increasingly measures to avoid being identified. In the midst of all this, Marcus meets Ange, another Xnetter who is just as smart and passionate as he is, and the two fall in love. When Marcus discovers that his friend Darryl, who never returned after their initial detention by the DHS, is alive and in custody on Treasure Island (now “Gitmo by the Bay”), he decides to take drastic measures—including telling adults the truth.

Critical Evaluation

A suspenseful mood; timely, thought-provoking themes; and excellent characterization combine to make Little Brother a riveting read. The chilling mood is set as soon as Marcus and his friends get inside the DHS’s detention truck. The agents talk and laugh among themselves while the prisoners are uncomfortable and terrified. The sense the Marcus is always just one false move away from getting caught and disappearing, perhaps forever, keeps the pages turning.

Doctorow takes the interesting step of including long—sometimes pages-long—asides about computer science and hacker technology. These are almost always surprisingly interesting and clearly explained; there was only one such passage that I couldn’t make sense of. Doctorow is also unapologetically didactic when it comes to ideology. Nevertheless, the themes of exchanging freedom for security and the ethics of civil disobedience are food for thought and discussion.

Marcus is a charming narrator and exceptionally fully-realized character. His voice is authentically teenage and geeky, with occasional lapses into Internet-speak (such as “teh suck” for “unpleasant”). He is very smart and sometimes arrogant about it, but he’s not above acknowledging when other people are better at something than he is. He is passionate and committed to his cause, but also scared for his own safety and leery of endangering others. His feelings for Ange and the development of their relationship are believable. Although the sex is not essential to the plot, it is realistic and sensitively handled. Ange and Marcus’s other friends are also well-drawn. The only disappointing character is the dad, who becomes increasingly irrational in his defense of the DHS. From what we know of the dad’s character and background (including his profession—librarian) his behavior rings false.

Curriculum Ties: Government--Bill of Rights, civil liberties

Booktalking Ideas
Explain how Marcus uses pebbles in his shoes to evade the gait-recognition cameras.
Read Marcus's initial interrogation in the DHS truck.

Challenge Issues: Sexual content, language
In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I will include reviews from Library Media Connection (mixed; objects to sexual content), VOYA (positive), Kirkus Reviews (positive), and Booklist (positive; recommends for use in classroom discussions).

About the Author
Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction novelist, blogger and technology activist. He is the co-editor of the popular weblog Boing Boing (boingboing.net), and a contributor to The Guardian, the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Wired, and many other newspapers, magazines and websites. He was formerly Director of European Affairs for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org), a non-profit civil liberties group that defends freedom in technology law, policy, standards and treaties. He is a Visiting Senior Lecturer at Open University (UK) and Scholar in Virtual Residence at the University of Waterloo (Canada); in 2007, he served as the Fulbright Chair at the Annenberg Center for Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California.

His novels have been translated into dozens of languages and are published by Tor Books and HarperCollins UK and simultaneously released on the Internet under Creative Commons licenses that encourage their re-use and sharing, a move that increases his sales by enlisting his readers to help promote his work. He has won the Locus and Sunburst Awards, and been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and British Science Fiction Awards. His New York Times Bestseller LITTLE BROTHER was published in May 2008, a followup young adult novel called FOR THE WIN was published in 2010. His latest short story collection is WITH A LITTLE HELP, available in paperback, ebook, audiobook and limited edition hardcover. In 2011, Tachyon Books published a collection of his essays, called CONTEXT: FURTHER SELECTED ESSAYS ON PRODUCTIVITY, CREATIVITY, PARENTING, AND POLITICS IN THE 21ST CENTURY (with an introduction by Tim O'Reilly) and IDW published a collection of comic books inspired by his short fiction called CORY DOCTOROW'S FUTURISTIC TALES OF THE HERE AND NOW. His latest adult novel is MAKERS, published by Tor Books/HarperCollins UK in October, 2009. THE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL TOMORROW, a PM Press Outspoken Authors chapbook, was also published in 2011.

He co-founded the open source peer-to-peer software company OpenCola, sold to OpenText, Inc in 2003, and presently serves on the boards and advisory boards of the Participatory Culture Foundation, the MetaBrainz Foundation, the Organization for Transformative Works, the Annenberg Center for the Study of Online Communities, the Clarion Foundation and The Glenn Gould Foundation.

http://craphound.com/bio.php

Why is this title included?
Little Brother is on many best-of lists, including Amazon Editors' Picks: Top 10 Books, 2008; Booklist Best Books for Young Adults, 2009; Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books, 2008; School Library Journal Best Books, 2008; and YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2009.

Ender's Game

Title: Ender's Game
Author: Orson Scott Card
Publisher: Tor Books
Copyright: 1985
ISBN: 9780812550702

Reading Level/Interest Age: Grade 7 and up

Genre: Science Fiction--Aliens

Reader’s Annotation: Ender Wiggin is a genius hand-picked to save the world from alien invasion. He's also just six years old when he's taken from his family for training in Battle School.


Plot Summary
Ender is a Third, a child born by special dispensation from the government because of his potential value to the International Fleet (IF). Ender’s older siblings, Peter and Valentine, are both brilliant, but neither has the exact combination of compassion and ruthlessness that the IF is looking for. The buggers, an insect-like alien race, have twice attacked Earth. A third war is near, and the IF is looking for a savior, someone who can defeat the buggers once and for all.

Ender is taken to Battle School, which is located on a space station, when he is just six years old. The life of the school revolves around a battle game, played in zero gravity, that teaches military strategy and skill. Ender quickly rises to the top of the standings due to his clever, unconventional tactics. The IF commanders do everything they can to isolate Ender, push him to his limits, and stack the odds against him. They quickly make him the youngest commander in history. His prowess makes Ender some real enemies, until eventually there is a physical confrontation. In spite of all this, Ender manages to make some loyal friends and to keep a perfect winning record for the army he commands. Throughout the novel he struggles to maintain his humanity in the face of the brutality around and inside of him.

Critical Evaluation
It’s hard to imagine Ender’s Game being better executed. It has interesting, sympathetic characters; a fascinating setting with a well-developed history and rules; and a gripping plot. It’s easy to become immersed in the world of Battle School. The physical setting and social dynamics are described in detail, and it even has its own slang. The thrilling battle-game scenes will make you want to jump in and play. The larger political/historical setting, too, is clearly explained, and provides a context in which the extreme conditions of Battle School life make sense.

There is a large cast of characters, most of whom are geniuses. Card succeeds in imbuing them with distinct motivations and personalities. There is Colonel Graff, the IF commander who never stops manipulating Ender (all in the name of saving humanity); Petra, a fierce, proud girl in a male-dominated world; and Bean, probably the smartest one of all, who is even smaller and younger than Ender and is his only real rival for the job of savior of mankind. Peter and Valentine, left behind on Earth, write political essays that influence events both on- and off-planet while also trying to influence (and manipulate) each other. Ender’s voice and complex inner life make you feel you really know him. His basic, indomitable goodness will have you rooting for him from beginning to end.

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas
Describe life in Battle School
Describe the Formic Wars and the International Fleet's search for a savior

Challenge Issues: Violence, mild language
In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges if this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." Reviews to include come from Common Sense Media (http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/enders-game), which details elements parents may find objectionable; School Library Journal (positive); and SFReviews.net (http://www.sfreviews.net/endersgame.html), positive.

About the Author
Orson Scott Card is the bestselling author best known for the classic Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow and other novels in the Ender universe. Most recently, he was awarded the 2008 Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in Young Adult literature, from the American Library Association. Card has written sixty-one books, assorted plays, comics, and essays and newspaper columns. His work has won multiple awards, including back-to-back wins of the Hugo and the Nebula Awards--the only author to have done so in consecutive years.

His titles have also landed on 'best of' lists and been adopted by cities, universities and libraries for reading programs. The Ender novels have inspired a Marvel Comics series, a forthcoming video game from Chair Entertainment, and pre-production on a film version. A highly anticipated The Authorized Ender Companion, written by Jake Black, is also forthcoming. Card offers writing workshops from time to time and occasionally teaches writing and literature at universities. Orson Scott Card currently lives with his family in Greensboro, NC.

http://www.amazon.com/Orson-Scott-Card/e/B000AQ3SS0/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Why is this title included?
Ender's Game is one of my favorite books. I've recommended it to many people, including some very reluctant readers, and they've loved it without exception. It's won numerous awards and been translated into many languages. Though middle school readers also enjoy it, it's a book that holds up well to rereading, and older readers will usually get more out of it.

Peeps

Title: Peeps
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Razorbill
Copyright: 2005
ISBN: 9781595140838

Reading Level/Interest Age: Grades 9-12

Genre: Paranormal and Horror--Monsters--Vampires

Reader’s Annotation: Cal has a mission: hunt down his ex-girlfriends, whom he's infected with a parasite that causes vampirism, then find the woman who gave it to him.

Plot Summary
Cal Thompson moved from Texas to Manhattan for college, and within days lost his virginity in a drunken stupor to a mysterious woman. She infected him with a terrible parasite--the parasite that causes vampirism. In fact, vampires are known in Cal's world--the shadowy Night Watch organization for which he now works--as "parasite positives" or "peeps." Westerfeld cleverly explains the legends surrounding vampires as resulting from the parasite's symptoms--anathema, or hatred of things loved before the time of infection, is the reason behind vampires' supposed aversion to crosses. The short even-numbered chapters tell the stories of real-life parasites, bolstering Westerfeld's case for the vampire parasite and sneaking lessons on evolution into this otherwise fluffy read.

Since his infection, Cal has become a hunter. He is a carrier, so he is immune to the worst of the parasite's effects--cannibalism and anathema--but he does have heightened senses, super strength, and unusually good reflexes. He also suffers from heightened horniness, since the parasite is sexually transmitted and he must not act on his desires. His mission is to hunt down the ex-girlfriends he unwittingly infected and then to find his "progenitor." In the course of tracking her, he becomes involved with an attractive college student, Lace, who is too interested and clever for her own good. Cal and Lace learn that there's a conspiracy afoot among New York's clannish old families and that there may be something worse than vampires lurking beneath the city streets.

Critical Evaluation
Westerfeld’s witty first-person narrative and the creepy mood of the novel keep the reader turning pages, but the plot gets bogged down with twists, revelations, and explanations in the final chapters. The engaging combination of humor and horror is established in the first chapter, when Cal finds his ex, Sarah, lurking in an abandoned building with a horde of rats and the skulls of her victims—yuck—and uses Elvis paraphernalia, Sarah’s former passion, to trap and subdue her. “I took advantage of my slow ascent to leave a few items from my backpack on the stairs. A sequined cape, a miniature blue Christmas tree, an album of Elvis Sings Gospel” (p. 5).

The science in this book is refreshingly solid. The chapters on real-life parasites are not for the weak of stomach, but are factual and surprisingly captivating. The vampire-parasite premise is convincingly explained. Coming up with a new take on the done-to-death vampire genre is an accomplishment in itself. Characterization is competent, but the characters aren’t especially memorable.

Problems arise as the climax nears. For the first several chapters the book seems to be on track to be a satisfying stand-alone novel, but it veers off toward the end into setup for a sequel (which has yet to appear). There are too many revelations in too short a time, so the story must be put on hold for explication. The creepy mood is undermined when it turns out that the bad guys aren’t really bad. The final revelation is not as scary as it should be after all the buildup, and the final confrontation is somewhat anticlimactic. Who needs monsters when you’ve already got parasites and vampires?

Curriculum Ties: Biology--parasites, evolution

Booktalking Ideas: Read one of the descriptions of real-life parasites. Icky but interesting and witty.

Challenge Issues: Occult content, mild sexual content
In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." The reviews a will include come from Booklist (mixed), VOYA (negative), Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices (positive), and Kliatt (positive).

About the Author
Scott Westerfeld is me. I’m the author of eighteen novels. Five are for adults, and the other thirteen for young adults.

I’ve also been an occasional ghost writer, which is like driving someone else’s car really, really fast for lots of money. (I could tell you what famous authors I ghost-wrote for, but then I’d have to kill you. My name can be found on three Powerpuff Girl choose your own adventures, however.) In my artsy days, I wrote music for artsy downtown New York dancers, some of which can be found at the bottom of my video page.

I’m best known for my four sets of books for young adults. The most recent is the Leviathan trilogy. It’s a steampunk retelling of World War I, illustrated by the incomparable Keith Thompson. It features adventure, walking machines, and living airships!

My most famous works are those of the Uglies series, set in a future where cosmetic surgery is compulsory when you turn 16, making everyone beautiful. Of course, there are some people who want to keep their own faces . . . and that’s not okay with the government. The series consists of a trilogy—Uglies, Pretties and Specials—as well as a companion novel, Extras.

I was born in Texas, and split my time between New York City and Sydney, Australia. (I have more frequent flyer miles than you do.)

http://scottwesterfeld.com/about-the-author/

Why is this title included?
Westerfeld is a very popular YA author. Peeps is on the YALSA Best Books for Young Adults (2006), YALSA Teens' Top Ten (2006), and School Library Journal Best Books (2005) lists.