Really Professional Internet Person

by Jenn McAllister

Overview

Through her pranks, sketches, and videos about everyday life, Jenn has become a mouthpiece for millennials and one of YouTube's fastest rising stars!

Jenn McAllister, better known as JennxPenn, has been obsessed with making videos since she found her parents video camera at the age of eight. A shy child, Jenn turned to film because, unlike with life, you can always have a do-over. Really Professional Internet Person offers both an insider's guide to building a successful YouTube channel and an intimate portrait of the surreality of insta-fame and the harsh reality of high school. Brimming with honesty, heart and Jenn's patented sense of humor, Really Professional Internet Person features top ten lists, photos, screenshots, social media posts and never-before-posted stories chronicling Jenn's journey from an anxious middle-schooler just trying to fit in, to a YouTube sensation unafraid to stand out.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545861137
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/25/2015
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Lexile:	1060L (what's this?)
File size:	34 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Jenn McAllister, better known as JennxPenn to her fans and the Internet, is one of the reasons that it's now cool to be geeky and a girl. The wildly fun, energetic 18 year old has gained notoriety over the last 6 years on YouTube and successfully translated her following into working with tier-1 brands like Brandy Melville, Old Navy and Mattel. Last year, she served as the official Social Correspondent of Goldfish at the 2014 Jingle Ball, was a 2014 Teen Choice Award nominee, and hosted a national tour for musician, Tyler Ward. She understands her power and believes in utilizing this strength towards educating and rallying her fans for good. A video dedicated to voting for Ourtime.org was recognized by Vanity Fair on National Voter Registration Day. In addition, Jenn just wrapped her first feature, BAD NIGHT, which includes costars Casey Wilson, Adam Pally, and Matt Walsh.

Table of Contents

Introduction...9Chapter 1: Off-Camera Shy...13Chapter 2: My Second Life...25Chapter 3: That Girl Makes YouTube Videos...41Chapter 4: Thumbs-Down...53Chapter 5: Two Cents...65Chapter 6: Finding My Voice...77Chapter 7: A Tale of Two VidCons...91Chapter 8: High School's Small, the World is Big...105Chapter 9: Life Hacked...117Chapter 10: My Boyfriend, The Internet...129Chapter 11: Decisions Are Hard...145Chapter 12: My Super-Glamorous Grown-Up Life...161Chapter 13: The Perks of Being a YouTuber...173Chapter 14: A Fan Saved My Life...185Chapter 15: The Best Bad Night...198Chapter 16: Weirdly Sort of Famous...209Chapter 17: My Life in Videos...219A Letter to My Future Self...231

Editorial Reviews

12/01/2015
Gr 8 Up—McAllister first picked up a video camera when she was eight years old. A decade later, she's a YouTube sensation, boasting more than two million subscribers on her channel, Jennxpenn. Here, she discusses the middle school anxieties that inspired her to post her videos to YouTube and how she dealt with the bullying that followed, along with the struggles of coming-of-age in front of a camera. The second half of the book focuses on her fame: attending conferences, collaborating with other YouTube celebrities, and even starring in a movie. McAllister's energetic, bubbly voice will appeal most to the teens who make up the majority of her audience. While her experience is far from the norm, her success at age 19 will be inspirational to those who are just starting out in online video. The design is mildly frustrating, however. The publisher has attempted a youth-focused, magazinelike layout, and the text is printed on different backgrounds that is occasionally difficult to read. Top 10 lists, part of Jennxpenn's online identity, take up several spreads in the middle of a chapter, often requiring readers to flip through several pages to finish a sentence. VERDICT Purchase where teens are excited about online video culture.—Brandy Danner, Wilmington Middle School, MA

School Library Journal

2015-09-21
A popular YouTuber releases her memoir. Jenn McAllister, better known as Jennxpenn, details her ascent to Internet stardom and her personal struggles with bullying and anxiety. The book flips between prose chapters and lists, such as "Top 10 Things Middle Schoolers Worry About That They Shouldn't" and "Top 10 Best Pieces of Advice I've Ever Received." Unfortunately neither really pops. The lists are serviceable distractions filled with boilerplate platitudes ("Know It's Not About You"; "Nobody's in Charge of Your Happiness Except You"). McAllister's recounting of her own life starts interestingly enough (although her "bullying" is pretty tame, mostly name-calling that most children endure) but quickly loses narrative urgency or comedic charm. The book is filled with pictures as well, but there aren't any captions, so those who aren't familiar with YouTube culture won't know whom these people are or what the point of the picture's placement is. This lack of context feeds into the book's largest problem: anyone not familiar with Jennxpenn and her cohorts is left completely behind. The author describes her burgeoning channel competently enough early on, but once she makes it big, the narrative devolves into a listing of accomplishments and experiences that don't lead into one another in any way or provide much meaning to those curious about YouTubers but not particularly familiar with them. A vanity project that's for fans only. (Memoir. 13-17)

Kirkus Reviews