Little Brother by Corey Doctorow

This book REALLY made me think a lot about privacy issues (especially online privacy)and how much information so many people are willing to give up about themselves on a daily basis when they use social networking sites. I was surprised how much I appreciated and liked the explanation of the fairly involved mathematical ideas inserted as part of the storyline in order for the story's plot to make even more sense.

The whole idea of a society giving up personal freedoms in order to feel some pseudo sense of security reminded me again how drastically older American's lives are post 9/11. When I contrast this current way of life compared to my life as a young teen decades ago--the comparison is pretty disheartening (heck, I'm old enough to remember when flying was a FUN adventure--none of the security lines, scanning or shoe removal). While most teen readers today won't have that perspective, the way the story presents the "other" side of homeland security will resonate and even creep them out. If readers want to know what a number of librarians think about privacy (other than we're big time promoters of the idea, visit website here

My rating:   You're not paranoid if the ARE after you...