How We Became Wicked by Alexander Yates

HOW WE BECAME WICKED by Alexander Yates is exciting and suspense-filled. Set in the future, this dystopian science-fiction story is told primarily through the eyes of three teens: Astrid and Hank who live in Goldsport and Natalie who lives on Puffin Island. Their surroundings have been totally transformed by the spread of a plague called Wickedness – human victims become infected through the sting of mosquito like singers or by touching another infected human. A very few people, like Astrid and Natalie, are “vexed” or immune to the disease. Those who are still “true,” including Hank and the residents of Goldsport, must live in self-contained communities and take precautions such as wearing special suits if they venture out.  Of course, a substantial part of this novel is devoted to world building and character development, but that adds to its richness and to some very surprising twists. Be aware that there are a few horrific scenes and strong emotions in this novel. Along the way, though, readers will be asking themselves about the nature of right and wrong and who truly is wicked (e.g., the imprisoned grandfather or his family/captors?) and why. 

HOW WE BECAME WICKED received starred reviews from Booklist and Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and it could be an engaging independent read for students taking our Good and Evil English elective. This novel will be particularly enjoyable for any readers who like science fiction and survival stories – once started, it is hard to put down.  

Added: If this all sounds a little too far-fetched, see "The Mosquitoes Are Coming for Us" which coincidentally just appeared in The New York Times.  

Sourdough by Robin Sloan

SOURDOUGH by Robin Sloan is surprisingly one of my favorite reads of the summer. It’s about an overworked young programmer, Lois, who finds her passion – baking bread - and transforms her life and the life of others. SOURDOUGH is slow at times, but it has stayed with me due primarily to its endearing protagonist and its many humorous elements.  Initially, Lois has little life outside of working at General Dexterity in the Bay Area.  Her poor sleeping and eating habits gradually improve due to a mysterious local take-out’s soup and bread.  Sadly, the chef and his deliveryman brother run into visa issues and leave their “number one eater” (Lois) a yeasty sourdough starter and special ethnic music. Lois soon learns to bake bread, construct an oven, and even experiments with programming a robot to break eggs. This is a fun read about the possibility of following your dreams (even if you do not realize that is happening) from Robin Sloan, the author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, an Alex Award winner.

A very interesting juxtaposition would be to have a group read the fictional SOURDOUGH (featuring its robot character and almost magical biological substance) and also LIFE 3.0 by Max Tegmark which is non-fiction, dealing with the dangers of super intelligence and AI. 

Tegmark, a professor of physics at MIT, argues that the most important conversation of our time is about the future of AI and he quotes numerous experts in his text.  Tegmark also makes good use of charts and visuals to explain his thinking, saying “the goal of the book is to help you join this conversation.”  There is quite a bit of background material to sift through, however, and his explanations were sometimes quite dry or even a bit condescending given the topic. A review in August 29th’s Wall Street Journal notes that LIFE 3.0 is likely to be controversial, with the bulk devoted to “how things could go wrong.” I agree that this is an extremely important issue, but it is a little unclear who Tegmark’s target audience is for this disturbing forecast.

Honestly, I felt that SOURDOUGH opened my mind more to the possibility of using robots and made me feel genuinely excited about the near-term future. I also want to learn more about Vivek Wadhwa and his book, The Driver in the Driverless Car, just featured on the PBS NewsHour.