Antisocial

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.