 |
| Book #6 of 2010 |
| Title: Very LeFreak |
| Author: Rachel Cohn |
| Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf |
| Pub Date: January 12, 2010 |
| Grade: A- |
| Comments: Very LeFreak is a freshman at Columbia, but classes aren’t exactly a priority. She’d rather hang out with her roommate whom Very has named Lavinia, cuddle with friend Brian, or spend her time online sending out memes, downloading music and corresponding with her internet crush El Virus. Things begin to crumble as Very is on the brink of financial and academic meltdown, in trouble for organizing flash mobs on The Grid, a social network she has engineered, and on the outs with Brian, who she slept with one time and then broke his heart. Her friends orchestrate an intervention and her Ipod, Iphone and laptop are taken away. She manages to salvage some of her grades and things start looking up but when she finds a way to get back online, the school decides that her only shot at coming back next year is to go to technology rehab.
I thought it was interesting that this was the second book I’ve read this month that had a technology rehab setup, though in Tangled, the concept is mocked and in the end, not very essential to the story. For Very, it’s not the disconnection from technology that is as important as her counseling sessions with Keisha that help her get to the root of some of her problems. I liked these parts of the book best. At first it seemed like Very was just yet another one of Rachel Cohn’s impossibly hip narrators, but without the liability of a Cyd Charisse or a Nick or Norah. But once Very begins to open up, her vulnerability shows and you can see more of the character and less of the hip references and technological gadgetry. Very won me over in the end. I wonder if teen readers will be turned off by the idea that technology can be bad for you, but hope that they’ll get to the heart of the message that it’s not about the technology, but what the technology is allowing you to hide.
|
| In Depth Reviews: SLJ |
|
I am an Amazon Affiliate (in order to use their photos mostly, but the occasional gift card is nice). If you make a purchase after clicking on a photo, I will receive a small portion of the purchase price.
Add A Comment