Common Sense Media Review
By Kate Pavao
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Provocative book about social networking gone bad.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In ANGELS ON SUNSET BOULEVARD, The Angels Practice -- or TAP -- is a fictional social networking website -- like MySpace.com, but with a serious dark side. Cool girl Taj's rock star boyfriend disappears onstage. Nick's young stepsister has also disappeared -- with Taj in the process.
Is It Any Good?
This book delivers enough excitement to hook readers -- a missing rock star, an unexpected romance between two very different characters, for starters. And of course, at its heart, there's the mysterious social networking site designed to keep kids striving for fame and material goods. The writing might not always live up to the author's creative ideas, but teen readers will certainly feel the wheels spinning in their brains. Not only will readers try to figure out what TAP is all about, they will puzzle over bigger questions, such as why teens today are so fascinated by fame -- and what tricks big businesses use to keep teens distracted with desire so that "they don't see what's really out there."
In the end, Angels on Sunset Boulevard manages to be both glossy fun and a philosophical puzzle. Readers won't figure out all of TAP's mysteries by the end, but they are sure to be thinking about its implications long after they've finished reading.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the fake social networking site in Angels on Sunset Boulevard. Does it seem realistic?
Why are social networks obsessed with fame?
What did you think of the mystery aspect of the plot? Did it keep you intrigued?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Coming of Age
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Simon & Schuster
- Publication date : March 6, 2007
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 14 - 14
- Number of pages : 224
- Last updated : February 24, 2023
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