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Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
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Little Brother

by Cory Doctorow

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1,8901861,886 (4.16)125
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As many of the Peach Award nominees, this book would definitely stimulate some great discussion. I don't recommend this as an audio book because of its technical content--I sooo wanted to read this one instead, but the request list was too long for the print, so I suffered through. Some great historical content--I had never heard of the Yippie's attempt to levitate the Pentagon. Great book for geeks, rebels, and anyone interested in freedom. Should probably be required reading for high school students. At the end, readers will hear from an MIT alumni who hacked the XBox. Also, a great bibliography on related topics is also included. Ideally suited for the open-minded high school teacher who welcomes classroom debate while hoping to motivate students to read more on the subject. ( )
  lisasimone | Mar 20, 2010 |
Little Brother is a very enticing novel about security in the age of invasice technology. The author includes a lot of background knowledge by including topics such as online culture, cryptography, revolution, terrorism into the plot. The novel is about several teenagers residing in San Fransisco that was bombed by terrorists. The main character, Marcus Yallow, and his friends are apprehended by DHS (Department of Homeland Security) after they were trying to find help for their friend Darryl who was stabbed while they were escaping the bombed city. All but Darryl were released by the DHS. What will become of their friendship and San Fransisco? ( )
  ahsreads | Mar 19, 2010 |
Little Brother is a gripping tale of security in the age of invasive technology. Doctorow deftly weaves information about online culture, cryptography, terrorism, revolution, and role playing games with a story that is both a thriller and a coming of age story. The detail should be fascinating for older readers who are still coming to terms with the internet and technological change; hopefully the story and its influences from 50s and 60s counterculture are interesting enough to hold the attention of the millenials, who are internet natives. ( )
  flemmily | Mar 9, 2010 |
OK, so the target audience for this book is young adults and that is certainly the style it is written in. While I don't fit into that demographic I really enjoyed this book. Along with the story, there is actually some very good explanations of various technologies scattered through the book. In particular I like the way the main character takes time out to explain public/private key encryption. At the end of the book the author acknowledges many of his influences (not surprisingly George Orwell is among them). Like the author, I read 1984 when I first started high school and I think I might have been inspired to have another read of that classic.
All in all, a riveting reminder of what could happen when things go wrong with the Government. ( )
  abitmorejerry | Feb 20, 2010 |
1 vote elfo | Feb 14, 2010 |
Showing 1-5 of 186 (next | show all)
Little Brother represents a great step forward in the burgeoning subgenre of dystopian young-adult SF. It brings a greater degree of political sophistication, geekiness and civil disobedience to a genre that was already serving up a milder dose of rebellion. After this, no YA novel will be able to get away with watering down its youthful revolution.
 
MY favorite thing about “Little Brother” is that every page is charged with an authentic sense of the personal and ethical need for a better relationship to information technology, a visceral sense that one’s continued dignity and independence depend on it: “My technology was working for me, serving me, protecting me. It wasn’t spying on me. This is why I loved technology: if you used it right, it could give you power and privacy.”

I can’t help being on this book’s side, even in its clunkiest moments. It’s a neat story and a cogently written, passionately felt argument.
 
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Epigraph
Dedication
For Alice, who makes me whole
First words
I'm a senior at Cesar Chavez high in San Francisco's sunny Mission district, and that makes me one of the world's most surveilled people in the world.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
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Book description
The ultimate tale of teen rebellion -- one seventeen-year-old against the surveillance state. Big Brother is watching you. Who's watching back? Marcus is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works -- and how to work the system. Smart, fast and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school's intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems. But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison, where they're mercilessly interrogated for days. When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state, where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0765319853, Hardcover)

Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.

But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.

When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.

(retrieved from Amazon Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:20:17 -0500)

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