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FeedFeed by M.T. Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Feed is a quick read, and a great Young Adult dystopian novel that presents some images that will stay with you. I have long predicted some sort of advertising-sponsored biohack, starting with earbuds progressing to implants -- the author takes it to a logical conclusion.

The main protagonist/narrator is frustratingly adolescent: we keep yelling at him to "just say something!" but he is tongue-tied, and defaults to inaction whenever possible. Let's here refer to Sherry Turkle's "Alone Together" for further confirmation of this generation's increased inability to hold a full conversation, even more than the typical adolescent inarticulateness. Yet these characters do not rage against the machine. They are witting participants in this brave new world. What great fodder for discussion in a tenth-grade classroom, or with the adolescent in your household.

Although the plot devolves into the stereotype YA illness-that separates-us trope, the one surprising twist in the plot shows the unexpected consequence of the small rebellious act our protagonists take, a consequence fully in line with the zeitgeist portrayed, which provides yet more fodder for discussion!
Note to parents/teachers, in case you're wondering: the book maintains a PG13 rating: appropriate for any high school classroom.

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