Here we go again. That's literally all I could think when I picked up Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. Another story of little guy versus government. Blah, blah, rebellion, blah, blah, down with the corporation. Sound familiar? Oh, yeah.
And yet-- I loved this book. Okay, so it DOES follow the cliched average-Joe-versus-government, but it does it in such a genius way that I couldn't stick to my preconceived hatred of it. Basically, what happens is that San Fransisco was the lucky recipient of a terrorist attack. Marcus (the narrator) happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he and his friends are taken to a secret government facility for intense interrogation. When they are let go, they realize that one guy didn't get released and the government has gone out of control on his city, sending Marcus into a techno-geek spiral of rebellion in an attempt to find his friend and get the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) to stop treating every person in San Fransisco like a terrorism suspect.
It's full of hacker lingo and a lot of technological ideas, but everything is explained for the readers. This slows down the plot a bit here and there, but not so much that story stops moving. Actually, it sort of gives the reader a chance to catch their breath in between the heart-pounding action sequences.
I highly recommend this book to my fellow teenagers, and anyone who has an interest in computers, the government, San Fransisco, spicy foods, or LARPing.
And yet-- I loved this book. Okay, so it DOES follow the cliched average-Joe-versus-government, but it does it in such a genius way that I couldn't stick to my preconceived hatred of it. Basically, what happens is that San Fransisco was the lucky recipient of a terrorist attack. Marcus (the narrator) happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he and his friends are taken to a secret government facility for intense interrogation. When they are let go, they realize that one guy didn't get released and the government has gone out of control on his city, sending Marcus into a techno-geek spiral of rebellion in an attempt to find his friend and get the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) to stop treating every person in San Fransisco like a terrorism suspect.
It's full of hacker lingo and a lot of technological ideas, but everything is explained for the readers. This slows down the plot a bit here and there, but not so much that story stops moving. Actually, it sort of gives the reader a chance to catch their breath in between the heart-pounding action sequences.
I highly recommend this book to my fellow teenagers, and anyone who has an interest in computers, the government, San Fransisco, spicy foods, or LARPing.
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