Parents' Guide to

Girl Gone Viral

By Mary Cosola, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Tech-based story has great messages but is light on thrills.

Book Arvin Ahmadi Contemporary Fiction 2019
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What's the Story?

In GIRL GONE VIRAL, Opal is a senior at an elite tech high school in Palo Alto, California, in the not-too-distant future. A top-notch coder, she excels at creating virtual worlds and interpreting data, all while navigating a typical high-school senior existence of heavy coursework, friends, dating, and college applications. Opal's dad was a well known scientist who disappeared when she was 10. He was deep into a secret project with his partner Howie Mendelson, who went on to become one of tech's most powerful and reclusive titan. Over the past seven years, Howie has never responded to a single message from Opal about her dad, but she now has the perfect opportunity to meet the billionaire in person. His company, the world's biggest virtual reality platform, has launched a contest for a new show, and the one with the biggest viewership will get to meet Howie in person. This contest combines Opal's two biggest desires: to make a huge splash in virtual reality social media and to unravel the mystery around her dad's disappearance. As she and her friends make headway and headlines with their show, Opal learns more about the dark underbelly of the tech world and social media fame.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
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Kids say (1):

Social media fame, data hacking, privacy, and high school drama collide in this thoughtful tale of tech in the near future. Opal, the girl in Girl Gone Viral, is a conflicted, realistic character. She makes some questionable decisions in her desire to succeed and get answers about her dad's disappearance, but she's sympathetic because many of us might do the same things in her shoes. Author Arvin Ahmadi addresses important issues of ethics and the treatment of women in high-tech industries. He also invites the reader to question the ways people use social media for fame and money, looking at how they manipulate the truth and their followers in the quest for a good story and lots of clicks and hits.

The story takes too long to get rolling and the stakes never seem as high as the author wants us to think they are. The mystery around Opal's dad just hangs there, with no new information or hints along the way until the very end of the book, which felt rushed and unsatisfying. Even thought the book could have been more exciting and executed more tightly, it offers good food for thought regarding privacy, personal data, relationships, and the consequences of living a life more online than in reality.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the way personal data is hacked and easily shared in Girl Gone Viral. The characters rationalize that they are using the data for good purposes, so it's OK. How do you feel about that? Do you feel it's important to guard any online data related to you? Are you willing to sacrifice personal information to make some tasks easier or to play online games? What do you know about online privacy and Internet safety?

  • What do you think of the way the author depicts the future a few decades from now based on current trends? Does the setting of the book seem plausible? What assumptions is the author making about changes in politics and economics between now and the near future?

  • Do you experience a lot of stress over school and what'll you'll be doing after high school? How do you cope? Do you get help or do you keep it all to yourself?

Book Details

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