Welcome to Litsy!

This satire is a blazing takedown of cancel culture and our collective obsession with social media and being chronically online. I love John Boyne‘s books but have read about his own recent situation which he was “cancelled”. Knowing his personal views and in light of recent events, I read this through a lens of “this is how the author feels” when outrageous and over the top “woke” characters were skewered. An absurd #dysfunctionalfamily.⬇️

I like Chris Hayes as a TV anchor, but I *really* like him as an author and audiobook narrator. (A Colony in a Nation was also great.) I‘d recommend this book to anyone interested in the challenges of attention in our media/info-oversaturated age (and especially to anyone who, like me, just can‘t with Jonathan Haidt‘s work). Hayes is VERY grounded in sociology here, which made me very happy.

I don‘t know why I have been so drawn to books with such unlikable characters lately, but here I am again! 😅

Clever, tech‑driven YA mystery about a video that ruins reputations—even though it may be fake. High‑school rivalry, viral gossip, and shocking twists keep this page‑turner grounded in real‑world media weirdness. Compact, relevant, and suspenseful.

“Accountable“ really made me reflect on how staying silent in the face of racism causes just as much harm too. Being a bystander isn‘t neutral, it allows the behavior to continue. A lot of people may think that staying out of it means they‘re not involved, but in reality, silence can show a sense of complicity. This novel is a powerful reminder that speaking up really matters and that accountability is everyone's responsibility.

One thing that stood out to me about this novel was how it blends real-life storytelling with a deeper exploration of social issues. It doesn‘t just tell you what happened, it makes you think about why it happened and what it says about our culture, especially when it comes to race, responsibility, and online behavior. Bringing in actual voices from the people involved added a layer of authenticity and complexity that made the story more powerful.

What struck me most was how the students struggle so hard to grasp the impact of their posts until it was too late, which really made me think about how we teach empathy in digital spaces. How do we properly help the younger generation understand that pressing “post” is no different than saying something out loud in a room full of people and is even sometimes worse, because it can be saved, shared, and seen forever?

I thought it was interesting that Slater showed the advantages and disadvantages to online discourse; and showed the importance of accountability and justice. Social media shapes behaviors of students in and out of school, how do we as upcoming teachers take this and teach them their actions have consequences even when it‘s posted online and not in school?