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WORK TITLE: Antisocial
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2140299/jillian-blake
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and novelist.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Jillian Blake is the author of the novel Antisocial, a look at the disadvantages and potential dangers of social media in the modern world. Protagonist Anna Soler is a senior at Alexandria Prep, a prestigious high school in the Washington, DC, area. She does not look forward to her final semester at the school, however, since her social life is in shambles. The semester before, she had abandoned her friends after she started dating a popular athlete, which elevated her reputation and social status. Over the Christmas break, however, the young man dumped her, and she faces the embarrassment of being returned to her previously lower social level and, even worse, attempting to make amends with the friends she cast aside when she temporarily occupied a higher niche at the school. Complicating things further is Anna’s social anxiety disorder, which makes it very difficult for her to interact with people.
Anna’s former friends are not eager to let her back into their good graces, but soon, the personal politics of cliques and friend groups take a back seat to a bigger crisis. A hacker breaks into the computer systems of the school and begins leaking information about the students in the school. At first, the information is fairly minor, consisting of searches made on individual phones. Some of the search terms are embarrassing, but many are much simpler and common. Since the leaks are directed at the school’s more popular students, most find it amusing and a case of the stuck-up getting their comeuppance. It does not take long, however, for the leaks of information to become more extensive and personal, revealing not just online search interests but medical conditions, sexual identities, and personal issues. As the hacks and information revelations intensify, it appears that the hacker is targeting specific students. In the midst of the leaks, friendships are strained or broken, the deepest of personal secrets are exposed, and reputations are destroyed. The chaos eventually sparks the worst reaction of all: a suicide. The hacking stops when the death occurs, but now the issue has become a more serious criminal matter. The identity of the hacker, as well as the motivations behind the wholesale invasion of privacy, must still be discovered.
Throughout the novel, Anna “struggles realistically with an anxiety disorder,” remarked Booklist reviewer Maggie Reagan. The plot points involving hacking of social media accounts will cause the novel’s readers to spend time “double-checking their own passwords once they’re done with [Anna’s] story,” Reagan further observed. “Anna’s present-tense narration gets readers inside her anxiety, and the premise is undeniably compelling,” commented a Kirkus Reviews writer. “This debut novel is timely, cautionary, and compelling,” stated Lucy Schall, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 1, 2017, Maggie Reagan, review of Antisocial, p. 32.
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2017, review of Antisocial.
School Library Journal, May, 2017, Melyssa Kenney, review of Antisocial, p. 100.
Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2017, Lucy Schall, review of Antisocial, p. 56.
ONLINE
Great Imaginations, http://www.great-imaginations.com/ (May 11, 2017), review of Antisocial.
JILLIAN BLAKE grew up in New England, where she kept her deepest, darkest secrets password-protected. Antisocial is her first novel.
Antisocial
Maggie Reagan
Booklist. 113.17 (May 1, 2017): p32.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Antisocial. By Jillian Blake. May 2017. 256p. Delacorte, $17.99 (97811019389661; e-book, $17.99 (9781101938973). Gr. 9-12.
Anna Soler is that girl: she ditched her un-cool friends for a boy. But now basketball star Porter has dumped her, and Anna's left to beg her way back into her old group of friends, if they'll have her. It's a bad end to a senior year of high school that gets even worse: a hacker has gone nuclear on the students of Alexandria Prep. At first, it's just the cool kids who are having their private lives leaked, but the seemingly funny take-down soon becomes something more serious as more skeletons are released. It's every modern teen's nightmare, and both friendships and futures are ruined as Anna, with the help of a few hacker friends, tries to get to the bottom of the chaos. Though occasionally heavy-handed when preaching the downfalls of social media, this is nevertheless a compelling read. Flawed Anna, a girl who has made and paid for mistakes, struggles realistically with an anxiety disorder and readers will be double-checking their own passwords once they're done with her story.--Maggie Reagan
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Reagan, Maggie. "Antisocial." Booklist, 1 May 2017, p. 32. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A495034948/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d7b0ffd9. Accessed 15 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A495034948
Blake, Jillian: ANTISOCIAL
Kirkus Reviews. (Apr. 1, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Blake, Jillian ANTISOCIAL Delacorte (Children's Fiction) $17.99 5, 16 ISBN: 978-1-101-93897-3
Blake's debut tackles the perils of privacy in the digital age.Artistic, mixed-race (mom's a white Southern belle; dad's a Colombian diplomat) high school senior Anna Soler is not excited to return for her final semester at D.C.-area private school Alexandria Prep. Her jock boyfriend broke up with her over Christmas break, and on top of that she has social anxiety disorder, making social interactions difficult enough. All she wants to do is get her relationships back to normal with the friends she dropped while dating Palmer--facing the school cliques alone post-breakup would be too much. But soon cliques become the least of her worries when someone emails a list of search terms to the entire student body--searches Prep students made on their phones ranging from benign ("Jennifer Lawrence") to exposing ("STD symptoms") to deeply personal ("avoid rebounding with a close friend"). What starts as one leak turns into a steady stream, and soon the hacks begin to target particular students, exposing their most private secrets. Who is the hacker, and what is the motive? Will the leaks bring students together or tear them apart? With a conclusion to rival the finale of a show on Freeform, the novel is predictable and at times preachy. Nevertheless, Anna's present-tense narration gets readers inside her anxiety, and the premise is undeniably compelling. In an age of adult anxieties over digital privacy, this book is #relevant. (Fiction. 14-17)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Blake, Jillian: ANTISOCIAL." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A487668567/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=dfffb72d. Accessed 15 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A487668567
Blake, Jillian. Antisocial
Lucy Schall
Voice of Youth Advocates. 40.1 (Apr. 2017): p56.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
4Q * 5P * S (a)
Blake, Jillian. Antisocial. Delacorte/Penguin Random House, 2017. 256p. $17.99. 978-1101-93896-6.
Senior Anna Soler faces a lonely final semester at Alexandria Prep after her trophy boyfriend dumps her and her closest friends, whom she ignored for love and status, shun her. Her problems escalate when a hacker leaks the personal information and communications of the school's most popular students. A resulting schoolwide hacking frenzy exposes sex, drugs, gender identification, and eating disorders. Paranoia reigns and friendships end as each student fears that comments about and by them will shatter their carefully planned social media personas. Seeing the resulting chaos in their own lives as well as the school's student body, Anna and friends face their flaws and accept themselves and each other. Then, with their talents, they help their school heal.
The scandal sheet contents will hold high appeal for teens and a probability of censorship from adults. Drinking, doping, sexting, casual sex, and a teacher/student affair are among the secrets exposed. A suicide ends the hacking but opens more wounds and transforms entertainment into possible criminal acts. The stereotyped uptight teachers cannot control the web riot, while the laidback art teacher is the hero, putting all the pieces back together. Sophisticated readers will understand the significance of allusions to Chuck Close portraits and A Midsummer Night's Dream, but those same readers will question how so many secrets could be kept so well and how healing could occur so quickly, if at all. This debut novel is timely, cautionary, and compelling.--Lucy Schall.
QUALITY
5Q Hard to imagine it being better written.
4Q Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses.
3Q Readable, without serious defects.
2Q Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q.
1Q Hard to understand how it got published, except in relation to its P rating (and not even then sometimes).
POPULARITY
5P Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday.
4P Broad general or genre YA appeal.
3P Will appeal with pushing.
2P For the YA reader with a special interest in the subject.
1P No YA will read unless forced to for assignments.
GRADE LEVEL INTEREST
M Middle School (defined as grades 6-8).
J Junior High (defined as grades 7-9).
S Senior High (defined as grades 10-12).
A/YA Adult-marketed book recommended for YAs.
NA New Adult (defined as college-age).
R Reluctant readers (defined as particularly suited for reluctant readers).
(a) Highlighted Reviews Graphic Novel Format
(G) Graphic Novel Format
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Schall, Lucy. "Blake, Jillian. Antisocial." Voice of Youth Advocates, Apr. 2017, p. 56. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491949468/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f21508e6. Accessed 15 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491949468
Blake, Jillian. Antisocial
Melyssa Kenney
School Library Journal. 63.5 (May 2017): p100+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
BLAKE, Jillian. Antisocial. 256p. Delacorte. May 2017. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781101938966.
Gr 9 Up--Anna ditched her friends for a guy. Even worse--for a guy well out of her social sphere. When he dumps Anna, she goes Crawling back to her friends. Meanwhile, someone has managed to hack the server of the private school that Anna and her friends attend--and post a list of searches performed on the school's computers over the course of one morning. The popular and elite students are panicking. They are the prime targets because of their cruel treatment of others. Couples break up, teachers resign, and decade-long friendships are torn apart. The administration and the police cannot stop the flow of information. Anna, who is trying desperately to remain in her friends' good graces, finds her ex, and then her friends, the subject of these attacks. She has no idea what to do or how to help everyone. The school begins a witch hunt to track down the culprit. While dealing with current issues very well, the book also has some problems. Anna has an anxiety disorder, which is handled thoughtfully. She works hard to stay grounded, using techniques she learned in therapy. Her anxiety is not the focus of the story but is integrated seamlessly into her character development. However, the diversity comes off like tokenism. The social media and pop culture references might date the novel very quickly. Mentions of realistic sex, drinking, and recreational drug use make this title suitable for older readers. VERDICT This cautionary tale is recommended for supplementary purchase in high school collections.--Melyssa Kenney, Parkville High School, MD
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Kenney, Melyssa. "Blake, Jillian. Antisocial." School Library Journal, May 2017, p. 100+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491032154/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d8720576. Accessed 15 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491032154
BOOK REVIEW: ANTISOCIAL BY JILLIAN BLAKE
POSTED MAY 11, 2017 BY KARA IN BOOK REVIEW, KARA / 3 COMMENTS
Book Review: Antisocial by Jillian BlakeAntisocial by Jillian Blake
Published by Delacorte Press on May 16th 2017
Genres: young adult, contemporary
Pages: 256
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-stars
Alexandria Prep is hacked in this exhilarating whodunit set in the age of social media and the cloud—Pretty Little Liars meets WikiLeaks.
Senior spring at Alexandria Prep was supposed to be for sleeping through class and partying with friends. But for Anna Soler, it’s going to be a lonely road. She’s just been dumped by her gorgeous basketball star boyfriend—with no explanation. Anna’s closest friends, the real ones she abandoned while dating him, are ignoring her. The endearing boy she’s always had a complicated friendship with is almost too sympathetic.
But suddenly Anna isn’t the only one whose life has been upended. Someone is determined to knock the kings and queens of the school off their thrones: one by one, their phones get hacked and their personal messages and photos are leaked. At first it’s funny—people love watching the dirty private lives of those they envy become all too public.
Then the hacks escalate. Dark secrets are exposed, and lives are shattered. Chaos erupts at school. As Anna tries to save those she cares about most and to protect her own secrets, she begins to understand the reality of our always-connected lives:
Sometimes we share too much.
First things first. Trigger warnings for suicide, doxing, and a short self-harm scene. None of it was promoted as positive or romanticized–it was just there.
This book was fantastic. High school can be a really tough place for many people. I know it was tough for me, and I went to high school before the age of social media, where any rumor can be spread with the click of a button faster than a bully can trip a kid in the hallway, sending their books flying.
In an internet age, when almost our entire life history can be found online, it’s easy to fear being hacked. Heck, I bet every single person reading this review at least knows OF someone that has had their personal information hacked. I, myself, had my checking account information stolen due to malware on my husband’s computer. Well, that’s what happens in Antisocial. It starts out with just the popular kids being hacked, but then it starts to spread to the entire student body. All their text messages and photos are posted online for the entire school to see.
It wasn’t a perfect book, and some stuff bothered me, (the way Anna’s character was written didn’t feel genuine to me) but there has to be something said for compulsive readability and the fact that I read this in less than a day. I don’t know how long it’s been since I finished a book that fast.
Also, bonus points for covering many difficult topics that are relevant to teenagers, and covering them in a tactful and educational way without coming off preachy or like the book has a moral message to impart.
Edited to add: One of the things that bothered me was Anna’s social anxiety. It’s not that it wasn’t handled well–it was, and I can say that with confidence because I am a sufferer of SAD. But there were times that I felt like the author was bringing up Anna’s social anxiety in a way that felt forced and didn’t fit with her character. It was mentioned SO often that it started to feel a bit unnatural. Social anxiety affects a lot of things in a person’s life, but it is not the ONLY thing that Anna is, and it sort of came off that way to me.