Review: Awaken

The irony of posting this online does not escape me.

Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky is one of the most believable dystopian novels I have ever read. Unlike some authors, who exaggerate to the point of absurdity and/or horror (I’m looking at you, Huxley and Orwell), Kacvinsky’s world is just a few logical (and still unnerving) steps away from ours.

We had 9/11. They have M28, short for March 28, 2048, a day on which a terrorist group (not an Islamic one though; that would complicate the story even further) bombed 17 elementary schools as a protest against overpopulation. The result? Digital School, a free online program developed by lawyer and educator Kevin Freeman, which has become mandatory throughout the U.S.

We depend on the Internet. (I know I do.) In Kacvinsky’s future, that hasn’t changed. On the contrary, it’s gotten to the point where Madeline Freeman, Kevin’s daughter and the story’s heroine, is really shocked to see her new friend Justin Solvi standing at her door instead of texting her like a civilized person.

In our world, even in “first world’ countries, state-sanctioned violence happens more often than many of us care to admit. Workers at a juvenile detention center in Australia were recently found to have abused their charges (see this article). So when Madeline learns that Justin spends his life rescuing teenagers who are being brought to detention centers for refusing Digital School – they need to be rescued beforehand, because once they leave the centers, they refuse any human contact – I was somewhat less surprised than she was.

Justin’s mission is to make Digital School a choice again. To that end, he does everything in his power to get Madeline on his side, so she can hack into her father’s confidential files – again. Madeline is not your average dystopian YA heroine, the innocent follower of the system who needs her eyes opened by a charismatic rebel. She already knows she disagrees with her father’s education policy. The only question is whether her father – whom, despite their polar-opposite beliefs, she still loves – matters more to her than personal freedom.

Justin’s recruitment tactics are, of course, highly effective: fresh-baked chocolate cake (as opposed to ready-made meals, which are ubiquitous in Maddie’s world), live music, sunsets on the beach, a witty and warm-hearted group of fellow rebels – who wouldn’t give up the Internet for that? The trouble is, his efforts to make her fall in love with reality have the side effect of making her fall in love with him. Sparks fly, physically and intellectually, as the highly self-controlled resistance leader has his own arguments for living life to the fullest turned back on him by a girl as smart and stubborn as he is. Their growing relationship is the driving force of this novel; since Maddie narrates in first person, we see Justin through her eyes, and when he challenges her to think for herself and question authority, you might just find yourself doing the same.

Kacvinsky is not anti-tech. If she were, the book wouldn’t be half as interesting. Kevin Freeman’s motives for creating Digital School, though misguided, are both logical and compelling: no one can deny that teen violence, pregnancy and drug use would go down if teenagers didn’t leave their houses. Some of the anti-Digital School rebellion’s most valued supporters are computer experts, following the precept of “know your enemy”. Justin himself enjoys new technology; the cars he drives on his rescue missions can swim and even fly. The author’s message, though clumsily and didactically expressed, is simple:

“You can see all of this online. But that's cheating. No computer program can compare to the physical experience. It's like learning how to play a virtual sports game. You're not really playing anything, against anyone. You're just a spectator. People are becoming spectators of their own lives instead of living them. But the best part is getting in the game. That's when it's all worth it.” (e-book, ch. 5, p. 14).

On that note, let me just go cross-post this to my four different social media accounts …

Seriously. We need more books like these. Please read it.

Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

I don’t recommend this book – or script, to be exact – to anyone who hasn’t read the original series. But, since that’s a pretty small group by now, I think it’s safe to say that for anyone else, Platform Nine and Three Quarters can be relied upon to open once again. I warn you though, this is not going to be objective.

Speaking as a fangirl, this story was everything I hoped for and more. It tackled all the important questions we on the Internet have been asking for years: What was Dumbledore thinking, leaving the would-be savior of the world to be raised by the Dursleys? What is it like for Albus Severus Potter, growing up with a name like that – especially if he does end up in Slytherin? Will Draco Malfoy and the Golden Trio ever bury the hatchet? What was really going on between Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange? Did Cedric Diggory really have to die? And, last but not least – for me, anyway – can Ron and Hermione’s marriage really work?

Rowling and her co-playwrights, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne, serve up their answers with equal parts passion and precision. If you don’t believe it’s possible to return home to familiar ground and still be surprised, think again. The villain of this story is someone you’ll never see coming. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione themselves have changed and matured. It’s ironic – and satisfying - to see Harry as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, calling someone out for reckless decision-making. Karma has come full circle there.

I don’t want to talk too much about the plot, for fear of spoilers. It does, however, involve Time-Turners. There must be thousands of Time-Turner fanfics already published, but Rowling, Tiffany and Thorne approach the subject with the intelligence and subtlety it deserves. Every person’s choice affects another; changing even one thing can lead to unpredictable – and in this case, terrifying – consequences. As Albus and his friends hop from one parallel future to the next, wreaking havoc on the timeline with the best intentions in the world, they run into old friends and enemies, see them through fresh eyes, and find answers to questions they never had the opportunity to ask.

Ironically for a story about time travel, however, this story is about making peace with the past. Harry may be forty, a family man and a national hero, but he still has demons left to fight. For someone who’s been fighting all his life, sometimes the hardest thing is knowing when to stop – and when to let the next generation take up the battle.

Review: On The Fence

Kasie West has the gift of handling complex issues in beautifully simple prose. This book is very aptly titled: the life of Charlotte “Charlie” Reynolds, its heroine, is indeed a balancing act that requires all her strength and skill.

Charlie, as you can guess by her nickname, is a tomboy. Raised by a single father and three older brothers, with her male neighbor Braden for a best friend, she’s more comfortable on a soccer field than anywhere else. So when she is obliged to find a job to pay off a speeding ticket, and the only one available is at a clothing boutique, she feels very much out of her element. Learning about fashion and making friends with other women turns out to be good for her, but since she is afraid of being teased by her brothers and Braden, she keeps her new life separate from her old one. Talking to Braden at night over the fence between their houses is her only outlet for the stress of her double life; Braden, however, is part of the problem, since she’s falling for him.

This book is a strong example of the social pressures that teenage girls still face in developing their identity. Charlie is not a traditional girl to begin with. Still, she suppresses any so-called feminine traits she has – a newfound fashion sense; worries about body image; crying when upset; missing her mother – because she is afraid that being feminine will make her appear weak and/or promiscuous in the eyes of the men around her. “Are you wearing crap all over your face?” one of her brothers asks the first time he sees her wearing makeup. “I shouldn’t be worried that you work in the red-light district at night, right?” (p. 153). Charlie’s late mother, a clinically depressed woman who took her own life, adds an even deeper layer to Charlie’s troubles. She is afraid that taking on her mother’s gender role might make her vulnerable to her mother’s disease. Her brothers, who have been frightening away potential suitors behind her back, appear to feel the same way. “No wonder my dad and brothers thought I was so breakable (…) I’m sorry I wasn’t another boy,” Charlie thinks (p. 264).

On the other hand, she is equally afraid that being who she is - athletic, competitive, and outspoken – makes it impossible for any man to feel attracted to her. A stray comment of her brother’s about another girl who plays sports – “She’s probably a dog, some aggressive, burly thing” (p. 86) – sticks in Charlie’s mind for weeks. When a handsome boy sees her with her co-workers in “girl mode” and asks her out to a baseball game, she feels compelled to pretend total ignorance of the sport, even though she knows more about it than he does. Braden’s reaction is the reader’s first clue that he loves her: he is not only jealous of the other boy, but disappointed in Charlie for trying to hide what makes her unique.

By presenting Charlie as strong and beautiful at the same time, and having Braden love her because of her “masculine” qualities and not in spite of them, West plays with the idea of gender in interesting ways. The subplot involving Charlie’s mother and her mental illness is handled with equal compassion and finesse. West is never didactic; she never forgets that she is writing a YA romance, not a sociology text. But for anyone who likes their love stories to be fresh, healthy, modern, and unencumbered by stereotypes, this is the book for you.