The Unidentified

In the not-too-distant future, the federal government has proven unable to continue to put money into educating the nation's youth. Instead, school are taken over by corporate sponsors who provide the latest and greatest in technology and give students the freedom to choose their own activities and learn at their own pace. In exchange, the students are constantly monitored by where they swipe their ID cards and their activity on social networking sites for the purposes of market research. The best of the best are chosen by the sponsors to be "branded" and become spokespeople for their products. Education is driven by so much consumerism and virtual technology that they no longer call it school - it's just The Game.

Kid Dade is a mediocre student. She's smart but doesn't quite have the drive that other students do to become branded. She would rather confide in her two best friends than have a huge network of almost-friends and prefers to make music just for herself than for the masses. But after a strange prank catches her eye Kid becomes entangled with a group known as The Unidentified, a small group of students who value their privacy and refuse to be taken in by The Game's consumerism. But when Kid's interest in The Unidentified is picked up by the sponsors they decide to brand her, giving the sponsors the rights to all of Kid's ideas and creations in The Game and greater access to The Unidentified. How will this group rebel when their actions are simply spun into the latest trend?

This first novel by Rae Mariz takes a compelling look at social networking and consumerism in our society. The kids in The Game are constantly online and constantly connected via gadgets like smartphones and social networking similar to Twitter and Facebook. The scary part is that you can really see how this fictional world stems from our own. I really give this book credit for making readers think about issues like privacy in social networking and commercialism, and how challenging it can be to find our own truly unique identities in a consumer-driven society. I would have really liked to see the educational aspect of The Game a bit better developed as the characters seemed to nearly exclusively participate in extra-curriculars (or is this purpously done?), but this book still remains incredibly thought-provoking and absorbing.

Overall Grade: A-