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breadwitchery's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Police brutality, and Torture
Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Sexual content
Minor: Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Fatphobia, Xenophobia, Racism, Suicide, and Alcohol
c95newman's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Little Brother is the story of Marcus Yallow. He and his 3 friends sneak out of school to play a AR game, and end up witnessing a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. The Department of Homeland security responds to this attack by turning San Francisco into a police state, and the local teens are not fans. This leads Marcus to be the start of an underground tech-fueled revolution, and the DHS is not happy about that.
I recently reread this book and want to tell you about how important it is to me. This book was one of my favorite books as a kid, and had a huge influence on my worldview. Yes its a book about kids fighting a dystopian government that is eerily similar to our own, and yes that has been done many times. But this book just hit different with me for a bunch of reasons.
First, the technology. The characters' revolution was fueled by real technology. It thouroughly explains exactly what they are doing at every turn. This was mind blowing to 16yr old me. Its the first time I was ever exposed to the full power of technology to influence every aspect of life. I am a software engineer now and I was already learning programming when I first read this, but this book really cemented the idea that technology enables individuals to create really amazing things.
This book was also my introduction into my general skepticism of the US Government. This book explained some of the history of san Francisco and the yippies and some civil rights activists from the past and introduced 16yr old me to a lot of history. As a kid I always was taught protesting was something that people did quietly, with careful coordination and even government cooperation. This was my first introduction to the actual reality of protesting and how in order to achieve anything you have to make it impossible to ignore you. But mostly it was just an extremely realistic story of a police state. The book was published 13 years ago, yet the surveillance aspect felt extremely modern.
Basically I just love this book. When I started to reread I was worried that my adult self wouldn't like it as much, but I still loved it!!
Warning: the book was written in 2008 and occasionally says things that wouldn't be considered ok today. My copy is old, and contains the t-slur. I think new editions may not. I just crossed it out in my copy.
I recently reread this book and want to tell you about how important it is to me. This book was one of my favorite books as a kid, and had a huge influence on my worldview. Yes its a book about kids fighting a dystopian government that is eerily similar to our own, and yes that has been done many times. But this book just hit different with me for a bunch of reasons.
First, the technology. The characters' revolution was fueled by real technology. It thouroughly explains exactly what they are doing at every turn. This was mind blowing to 16yr old me. Its the first time I was ever exposed to the full power of technology to influence every aspect of life. I am a software engineer now and I was already learning programming when I first read this, but this book really cemented the idea that technology enables individuals to create really amazing things.
This book was also my introduction into my general skepticism of the US Government. This book explained some of the history of san Francisco and the yippies and some civil rights activists from the past and introduced 16yr old me to a lot of history. As a kid I always was taught protesting was something that people did quietly, with careful coordination and even government cooperation. This was my first introduction to the actual reality of protesting and how in order to achieve anything you have to make it impossible to ignore you. But mostly it was just an extremely realistic story of a police state. The book was published 13 years ago, yet the surveillance aspect felt extremely modern.
Basically I just love this book. When I started to reread I was worried that my adult self wouldn't like it as much, but I still loved it!!
Warning: the book was written in 2008 and occasionally says things that wouldn't be considered ok today. My copy is old, and contains the t-slur. I think new editions may not. I just crossed it out in my copy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Transphobia
In older editions of this book the t-slur is said by the main character. It was removed from newer editions
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