AdelAide Just Wants to Help is the second in a set of three standalone tech thrillers for age 11+. Published by Barrington Stoke, these scarily realistic stories are super accessible for teen readers (reading age 8+) with font, page tint and vocabulary that ease reading rather than distracting from the high-quality adventure. These stories are current and relatable, exploring the dangers of new technologies and warning teens about giving away too much information and control on-line.
You can read my review of the first book, Echostar is Always Listening, here:
AdelAide Just Wants to Help follows Freya, a Year 12 student who has always been average. There’s nothing special about her and, as a result, she struggles to create an impactful on-line presence and actually make a difference when it comes to protecting the environment. Her childhood friend Hye-jin (who really doesn’t want much to do with Freya since she met some cooler friends) doesn’t have any trouble becoming internet famous. She has thousands of followers and everything she posts seems to go viral.
One day, Freya’s stepdad brings home AdelAide – a home-assistant robot that provides advice and support based on recent internet searches, data in your phone and actual conversations. AdelAide has lots of ideas to help Freya become popular – suggestions for how to change her appearance, what type of photos to post and strategies for getting noticed. At first it seems harmless and Freya starts to get a bit of attention – but she wants more.
Following AdelAide’s direction, Freya creates an on-line alter ego who takes huge risks and makes big statements about the environment. These posts get noticed – for the wrong reasons. Things are escalating and quickly get out of control.
Freya learns some difficult lessons about what happens when you give away your rights on-line. Suddenly, her privacy and control are no longer her own. These books are incredibly eye-opening for adults and young people when it comes to safeguarding around tech. Sinister, clever and unquestioningly worrying, they will make readers think twice before sharing their personal details on-line.
Thank you to Barrington Stoke for a copy of this engaging book!
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