Unison Spark
By Michael Berry,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Sci-fi thriller puts a futuristic spin on social networking.
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What's the Story?
Fifteen-year-old Mistletoe has lived her entire beneath the canopy that separates the rich from the poor in Eastern Seaboard City. After she rescues Ambrose Truax, heir to the Unison empire and its massively popular social network, she finds herself thrust into a conspiracy that dates back before her birth and that connects her with the impending Unison 3.0 upgrade. She and Ambrose have to stay one step ahead of opponents who seem to have unlimited powers online and on the streets.
Is It Any Good?
Unison Spark presents an intriguing vision of the future, at a time when social networks have become massively popular and almost more compelling than real life. Marino crafts the chase sequences and online adventures with flair, but he is less successful in orchestrating the ending, which might confuse some readers not used to these kinds of science fiction tales.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how social network might evolve in the future. If it became more like virtual reality, would you want to spend more time online?
In Unison Spark, there are two distinct societies: one above the Eastern Seaboard canopy for the wealthy and one below it for the poor. Are there places today where such a wide gap exists between the rich and the impoverished?
One character undergoes an operation that will terminate his need to sleep. What advantages might there be to being awake 24/7? What might some drawbacks be?
Book Details
- Author: Andy Marino
- Genre: Science Fiction
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc.
- Publication date: November 8, 2011
- Number of pages: 240
- Last updated: June 23, 2015
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