Middle Ground

March 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-In this sequel to Awaken (Houghton Harcourt, 2011), Maddie again finds herself railing against the omnipresent digital world. From Digital School (DS) to virtual night clubs, teens have access to anything their hearts desire, but only via a computer screen. Real-life interactions are a thing of the past in this brave new world, a fact that Maddie cannot accept. To make matters worse, her father is the creator of DS, and many of her decisions deepen the growing rift between them. At the top of this list of bad decisions is Maddie's choice of boyfriend. Justin is the leader of the DS resistance, a group bent on exposing the dangers of the digital-only life and eliminating the detention centers that are used to forcibly propagate this lifestyle. Justin's fervor for this cause explodes when Maddie's attempts to buck the system land her inside one of these dreaded centers. She is forced to endure a treatment her captors refer to as "The Cure" for six months as Justin and her compatriots gather evidence and make a plan for her escape, a plan that must succeed or real life will forever be a part of the past. In Middle Ground, Kacvinsky presents a compelling argument for the lost art of conversation, set against a dark version of our possible collective future. Maddie is a pleasingly reluctant heroine, resulting in a story that is as fresh as it is timely.-Colleen S. Banick, Westport Public Schools, CT

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2012
In this sequel to Awaken (2011), Maddie's rebellion against digital school and social networking run amok land her in a detention center where detainees are conditioned to fear physical contact and transformed into pliant consumers content to conduct their lives online. In 2060, Americans live an increasingly virtual existence (think "Half-Life"). Kids attend school from the safety of their bedrooms. Nightclub partygoers dance and interact through sophisticated digital avatars. Online funerals console the bereaved through forums and photos, rather than the warmth of human contact. Incarcerated, Maddie stubbornly fights the powerful conditioning. She's supported by allies new and old, especially charismatic rebel Justin, her romantic and political partner in the fight to experience the sensory world directly. Over time, Maddie grows weaker; continued resistance results in an ever-longer sentence that she's unlikely to survive. Independent, courageous and immensely likable, Maddie is the heart of this story. Human contact unmediated by sterile, digitized perfection is messy, imperfect and even dangerous, but she's willing to pay the price. If Kacvinsky's wider worldbuilding remains sketchy, with frustratingly few panoramic shots of the culture at large, there are compensations. Seen in close-up, Maddie's sensuous, suspenseful voyage of discovery offers an intense, emotionally charged snapshot of the future that's rare in science fiction. Lyrical, provocative, passionate and thought-provoking. (Science fiction/romance. 12 & up)

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2013
After broadcasting her anti-digital politics, Maddie ([cf2]Awaken[cf1]) is sent to a detention center for reprogramming and, rather than letting boyfriend Justin break her out, chooses to remain imprisoned to gather information for the resistance. Despite a dull center-stage romance, this sequel powerfully communicates the dehumanization of a digital society and allows Maddie to come into her own as a hero.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)