Scott Westerfeld spends his southern hemisphere summers in Sydney, Australia, and his northern hemisphere summers in New York City. He was born in Texas and has been a musician, software game designer and ghost-writer; but writing under his own name turned out to be the most fun. He is not nearly as cool as Hunter in So Yesterday (he says) which won the 2005 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction, but his writing definitely is. His novels have been named New York Times Notable Books of the Year, made the Times' Essential Summer Reading List, and awarded the Philip K Dick Special Citation. He has contributed essays and stories to Scifi.com, Nerve.com, Nerve, and Book Forum. He has two series' Uglies and Midnighters which won the Aurealis award for Best Young Adult Fantasy and Penguin have also published So Yesterday and Peeps. Scott's steam-punk saga begins with Leviathan, continues in Behemoth and concludes with Goliath. http://scottwesterfeld.com https://twitter.com/ScottWesterfeld https://www.facebook.com/scottwesterfeldfan
Gr 7-10-New York City is the backdrop for this trendy, often surreal novel with a message about the down-and-dirty business of inventing and marketing pop-cultural fads. Hunter Braque, 17, is part of a focus group that views advertisements for shoes. A product gets the nod if it is "skate," but it is more important to point out what might be "uncool." When the teen brings Jen to the next meeting, she spots uncool right away and lets Hunter's boss, Mandy, know. The next day, the woman tells Hunter that the client appreciated Jen's original thinking, and that their help is needed for a "big deal." Jen and Hunter quickly find themselves caught up in a strange turn of events when Mandy disappears. Their search for her begins in an abandoned building in Chinatown and leads to a wild, drunken party at the Museum of Natural History where people are viewing advertisements for a new shampoo. This is a somewhat entertaining story, but awkward phrasing throughout defeats the "coolness," and the scenes involving Hunter's epidemiologist dad slow down the plot. Readers will better appreciate the satire and humor about the consumer world in M. T. Anderson's Feed (Candlewick, 2002), in which the characters are far more realistic.-Kelly Czarnecki, Bloomington Public Library, IL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
A teenage male Trendsetter (one who spots trends and makes them "cool") for a shoe company wants to introduce an Innovator (one who invents trends) peer to his boss-but the boss has disappeared and foul play is suspected. PW's starred review said, "this entertaining adventure doubles as a smart critique on marketing and our consumer culture." Ages 12-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
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