So Yesterday

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Overview

Ever wonder who was the first kid to keep a wallet on a big chunky chain, or wear way-too-big pants on purpose? What about the mythical first guy who wore his baseball cap backwards? These are the Innovators, the people on the very cusp of cool. Seventeen-year-old Hunter Braque's job is finding them for the retail market. But when a big-money client disappears, Hunter must use all his cool-hunting talents to find her. Along the way he's drawn into a web of brand-name intrigue- a missing cargo of the coolest shoes he's ever seen, ads for products that don't exist, and a shadowy group dedicated to the downfall of consumerism as we know it.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
A teenage male Trendsetter (one who spots trends and makes them "cool") for a shoe company wants to introduce an Innovator (one who invents trends) peer to his boss-but the boss has disappeared and foul play is suspected. PW's starred review said, "this entertaining adventure doubles as a smart critique on marketing and our consumer culture." Ages 12-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
KLIATT
Cool is cool, and what's cool today is tomorrow's old news. But who decides what's cool? Marketing executives? Big name celebrities? Or is cool created one unique shoelace tie at a time by Innovators who live outside the box? Just ask Hunter. He's a Trendsetter whose job is to determine "cool" and send it on down the line, through the Early Adopters, the Consumers, and finally the Laggards. Best of all, he gets paid for it as a "cool hunter" who works for "the client," a big-name company that specializes in athletic wear through Mandy, their marketing agent. Things get a little complicated when he discovers Jen, a true Innovator, and brings her to a "cool tasting" with the other Trendsetters. They stumble into a plot to bootleg the perfect shoe just when Mandy turns up missing, with only her cell phone left behind. Hunter and Jen set off to find Mandy, expose the bootleggers, and track down rogue cool hunters who are underground and working against the client and all things cool. So Yesterday is so today. Westerfeld has encapsulated today's cool in a fast-paced, fun novel that's not afraid to poke fun at our own consumerism while at the same time recognizing that cool rules. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2004, Penguin, Razorbill, 246p., Ages 12 to 18.
—Michele Winship
VOYA
So Yesterday is a very interesting view of modern cool and the hunting thereof from the point of view of two teenagers, Jennifer (most popular name for the 1970s and 1980s) and Hunter (32nd most popular name for the same time frame). It offers a classic start to some sort of romantic comedy, but I assure you that this tale is instead an adventure story that takes place in a concrete jungle. I would recommend this book to any inquisitive soul who wants to know more about those people who are first to wear the five-inch platform shoes or have psychedelic hair, as well as those who follow in the wake of the innovation. I would also recommend it to anyone who just wants a good story that is set today and manages to describe a place as plastered with advertising as New York City without mentioning more than five products. This review was brought to you by the word "cool" and the Innovator Shane (75th most popular name for 1980-1990) Bell. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, Razorbill/Penguin, 256p., Ages 12 to 18.
—Shane Bell, Teen Reviewer
School Library Journal
Gr 7-10-New York City is the backdrop for this trendy, often surreal novel with a message about the down-and-dirty business of inventing and marketing pop-cultural fads. Hunter Braque, 17, is part of a focus group that views advertisements for shoes. A product gets the nod if it is "skate," but it is more important to point out what might be "uncool." When the teen brings Jen to the next meeting, she spots uncool right away and lets Hunter's boss, Mandy, know. The next day, the woman tells Hunter that the client appreciated Jen's original thinking, and that their help is needed for a "big deal." Jen and Hunter quickly find themselves caught up in a strange turn of events when Mandy disappears. Their search for her begins in an abandoned building in Chinatown and leads to a wild, drunken party at the Museum of Natural History where people are viewing advertisements for a new shampoo. This is a somewhat entertaining story, but awkward phrasing throughout defeats the "coolness," and the scenes involving Hunter's epidemiologist dad slow down the plot. Readers will better appreciate the satire and humor about the consumer world in M. T. Anderson's Feed (Candlewick, 2002), in which the characters are far more realistic.-Kelly Czarnecki, Bloomington Public Library, IL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
This clever, quirky romp through New York City tackles the question: "What makes something cool?" Seventeen-year-old Hunter works for a famous shoe company spotting trends and taking part in focus groups. Three years earlier, having moved from Minnesota to Manhattan and finding himself an outsider, Hunter began to analyze and write a blog about the "billion coded messages being sent every day with clothes, hair, music, slang," which led to his job. When a radical group, out to undermine corporations, apparently kidnaps his boss, Mandy, Hunter and his adventurous friend and romantic interest Jen embark on a fast-paced, sometimes dangerous quest to rescue her. Unlike most realistic YA fiction, this one blends in interesting information as Hunter reflects on how trends spread and such unlikely topics as the popularity of certain names and the history of purple dye. While the plot occasionally requires a suspension of disbelief, the dialogue is snappy-and Hunter, whose anxiety underlies his need to be cool, is a charming narrator with an original take on teen life. (Fiction. 12+)

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781595140326
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 9/8/2005
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 256
  • Sales rank: 157,231
  • Age range: 13 - 17 Years
  • Lexile: 0770L (what's this?)
  • Product dimensions: 5.40 (w) x 8.20 (h) x 0.70 (d)

Meet the Author

Scott Westerfeld
Scott Westerfeld

Scott Westerfeld lives in New York, New York and Sydney, Australia.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter Zero We are all around you.

You don't think about us much because we are invisible. Well, not exactly invisible. A lot of us have hair dyed in four colors, or wear five-inch platform sneakers, or carry enough metal in our skin that it's a hassle getting on an airplane. Quite visible, actually, come to think of it.

But we don't wear signs saying what we are. After all, if you knew what we were up to, we couldn't work our magic. We have to observe carefully and push and prompt you in ways you don't notice. Like good teachers, we let you think you've discovered the truth on your own.

And you need us. Someone has to guide you, to mold you, to make sure that today turns into yesterday on schedule. Because frankly, without us to monitor the situation, who knows what would get crammed down your throats?

It's not like you can just start making your own decisions, after all.

So, if we're supposed to be secret, why am I writing this?

Well, that's a long story. That's this story, the one you're holding in your hands. It's about how I met Jen. She isn't one of us or one of you, either. She's on top of the whole pyramid, quietly making her contribution. Trust me, you need her. We all do.

It's also about the Jammers, who I'm pretty sure really do exist. Probably. If they're real, then they're crazy smart, and they've got big plans. They're the bad guys, the ones trying to bring the system down. They want to make people like me redundant, unnecessary, ridiculous.

They want to set you free.

And the funny thing is, I think I'm on their side.

Okay. Is that enough previews for you? Can you pay attention long enough for me to do this in order? Is it time for the feature presentation?

Let's get started, then.

Chapter One "Can I take a picture of your shoe?"

"Huh?"

"Shoelaces, actually. The way you tied them."

"Oh. Yeah, sure, I guess. Pretty skate, huh?"

I nodded. That week skate meant "cool," like dope or rad once did. And this girl's laces were cool. Fuzzy and red, they looped through the middle eyelet repeatedly on one side, spreading out in a fan on the other. Kind of like the old rising-sun Japanese flag, but sideways.

She was about seventeen, the same as me. Gray sweatshirt over camo pants, hair dyed so black that it turned blue when the sun hit it through the trees. The shoes were off-brand black runners, the logo markings erased with a black laundry pen. Definitely an Innovator, I thought. They tend to specialize, looking like Logo Exiles until you get close, until you see that one flourish. All their energies focused on a single element.

Like shoelaces.

I pulled out my phone and pointed it at her foot.

Her eyes widened and she gave the Nod. My phone for that month, made by a certain company in Finland, was getting a lot of the Nod, the slight incline of the head that means, I saw that in a magazine and I already want it. Of course, at another level the Nod also means, Now that I've seen an actual person with that phone, I really, really have to get one.

At least, that's what the certain Finnish company was hoping when they mailed it to me. So there I was, doing two jobs at once.

The phone took its picture, signaling success by playing a sample of a certain dysfunctional father saying, "Sweet, sweet chocolate." The sample did not get the Nod, and I made a mental note to change it. Homer was out; Lisa was in.

I looked at the image on the phone's little screen, which looked clear enough to copy the lacework back at home.

"Thanks."

"No problem." An edge of suspicion in her voice now. Exactly why was I taking a picture of her laces?

There was a moment of awkward silence, the kind that sometimes follows after taking a picture of a stranger's shoe. You think by now I'd be used to it.

I turned away to look at the river. I'd run into my shoelace Innovator in the East River Park, a strip of grass and promenade between the FDR Drive and the water. It's one of the few places where you can tell that Manhattan is an island.

She was carrying a basketball, probably had been shooting hoops on the weedy courts under Manhattan Bridge.

I was here working, like I said.

A big container ship eased by on the water, as slow as a minute hand. Across the river was Brooklyn, looking industrial, the Domino Sugar factory waiting patiently to be turned into an art gallery or housing for millionaires.

I was about to smile once more and keep on walking, but she spoke up.

"What else does it do?"

"My phone?" The list of features was on my tongue, but this was the part of the job I didn't like (which is why you will read no product placement in these pages, if I can possibly help it). I shrugged, trying not to sound like a salesman. "MP3 player, date book, texting. And the camera can shoot like ten seconds of video."

She bit her lip, gave another Nod.

"Very crappy video," I admitted. It was not my job to lie.

"Can you call people on it?"

"Sure, it--" Then I realized she had to be kidding. "Yes, you can actually call people on it."

Her smile was even better than her shoelaces.

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, he imagined everybody in the country having one big party line. We'd all listen to concerts on the phone, or maybe everyone would pick up and sing the national anthem together. Of course, a somewhat more popular use of the telephone turned out to be one person talking to one other person.

The first computers were designed for naval gunnery and code breaking. And when the Internet was created, it was supposed to be for controlling the country after a nuclear war. But guess what? Most people use them for e-mailing and IM-ing. One person communicating with one other person.

See the pattern?

"My name's Hunter," I said, returning her smile.

"Jen."

I nodded. "Jennifer was the most popular girl's name in the 1970s and number two in the 1980s."

"Huh?"

"Oh, sorry." Sometimes the facts in my head get bored and decide to take a walk in my mouth. Frequently this is a bad thing.

She shook her head. "No, I know what you mean. There's Jens all over the place these days. I was thinking of changing it."

"Jennifer did drop to fourteenth place in the 1990s. Possibly from overexposure." I winced when I realized I'd said this out loud. "But I think it's a nice name."

Great save, huh?

"Me too, but I get bored, you know? Same name all the time."

"Rebranding," I said, nodding. "Everyone's doing it."

She laughed, and I found that we'd started walking together. On a Thursday the park was pretty empty, mostly joggers, dog walkers, and a couple of old guys trying to catch something in the river. We ducked under their fishing lines, which flickered from invisible to brilliant in the summer sun. Behind the metal guardrail the river sloshed against concrete, agitated by a small boat motoring past.

"So, how's Hunter doing?" she asked. "The name, I mean."

"You really want to know?" I checked her smile for signs of derision. Not everyone appreciates the pleasures of socialsecurity.gov's name-ranking database.

"Absolutely."

"Well, it's no Jennifer, but it's moving up. Hunter was barely in the top four hundred when I was born, but it's a solid number thirty-two these days."

"Wow. So you were way ahead of the crowd."

"Yeah, I guess." I took a sidelong glance at her, wondering if she'd figured me out already.

Jen bounced the basketball once and let it rise into the air in front of her, ringing like a bell, before catching it with long fingers. She studied its longitude lines for a moment, spinning it before her green eyes like a globe.

"Of course, you wouldn't want your name to get too popular, would you?"

"That would suck," I agreed. "Witness the Britney epidemic of the mid-1990s."

She shuddered, and my phone rang. The theme from The Twilight Zone, right on cue.

"See?" I said, holding it up for Jen. "It's doing its phone thing."

"Impressive."

The display read shugrrl, which meant work.

"Hi, Mandy."

"Hunter? Are you doing anything?"

"Uh, not really."

"Can you do a tasting? It's kind of an emergency."

"Right now?"

"Yes. The client wants to put an advertisement on the air over the weekend, but they're not sure about it."

Mandy Wilkins always called her employers "the client," even though she'd worked for them for two years. They were a certain athletic shoe company named after a certain Greek god. Maybe she didn't like using four-letter words.

"I'm trying to get together whoever I can," Mandy said. "The client needs to make a decision in a couple of hours."

"How much does it pay?"

"Officially, just a pair."

"I've got way too many pairs," I said. A trunk full of shoes, not counting the ones I'd given away.

"How about fifty bucks? Out of my own pocket. I need you, Hunter."

"Okay, Mandy, whatever." I looked at Jen, who was scrolling absently through numbers, politely not listening, maybe a little saddened by how old and decrepit her own phone was (at least six months). I made a decision.

"Can I bring someone?"

"Uh, sure. We need more bodies. But are they . . . you know?"

Jen glanced at me, her eyes narrowing, beginning to realize that I was talking about her. The sun was catching more blue in her hair. I could see that she'd dyed a few slender strands bright purple, hidden underneath the black outer layers, letting glimpses of color through when the wind stirred her hair.

"Yeah. Definitely."

"A what tasting?"

"A cool tasting," I repeated. "But that's just what Mandy and I call them. Officially it's a 'focus group.'"

"Focusing on what?"

I told her the name of the client, which did not get the Nod.

"I know," I said. "But you get a free pair and fifty bucks." Once the words had left my mouth, I wondered if Mandy would cough up money for Jen as well as me. Well, if she didn't, Jen could always have my fifty. It was random money anyway.

But I wondered why I had invited her. Usually people in my profession don't like competition. It's one of those jobs, like politician, where there's already too many and everyone who's never tried it thinks they could do it better.

"Sounds kind of weird," Jen said.

I shrugged. "It's just a job. You get paid for your opinion."

"We look at shoes?"

"We watch an ad. Thirty seconds of TV, fifty bucks."

She looked into the currents of the river, having a two-second debate inside her head. I knew what she was thinking. Am I being exploited? Am I selling out? Am I pulling a scam? Is this a trick? Who do I think I'm fooling? Who cares what I think, anyway?

I've thought all those things myself.

She shrugged. "Hey. Fifty bucks."

I let my breath out, just then realizing I'd been holding it. "My thoughts exactly."

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 78 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(31)

4 Star

(23)

3 Star

(14)

2 Star

(8)

1 Star

(2)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 78 Customer Reviews
  • Posted December 26, 2010

    Truly Original

    This book was great and it was suprisingly original. I read a bunch of teen fiction and it all becomes the same but this was a nice change!

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  No   Report this review
  • Anonymous

    Posted December 26, 2011

    Great

    Great book!I loved it from the start!I reccomend this highly!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 6, 2011

    Amazing Book

    This book allows readers to fall into the world of consumerism and the materialistic tendencies of American Teens, alongside telling a delightful tale typical to said teens. Westerfeld is able to connect with the reader on a variety of levels through this book, and the plot remains interesting, despite what appears to be a shallow subject on the surface.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 8, 2011

    Good

    Uglies series is way way better.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted April 17, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    Another amazing novel by Scott Westerfeld

    My favorite Scott Westerfeld book! So Yesterday is witty, hilarious, and generally fantastic. It will make you think about society, consumerism, and advertising. Also, shoes. A fun read that somehow gets across much more than what the story is on the surface. The protagonist, Hunter (one of my favorite characters in a book, ever), narrates the story, and random bits of knowledge, urban myths, etc. are interspersed with the current happenings of the story. So Yesterday is lively and entertaining, and well worth the few hours it takes to read.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 22, 2008

    Liv's Book Reviews

    I've been wanting to read this book for a long time. Because knowing Scott Westerfeld, it had to be good. I've read all the Uglies books, the Midnighters books, and the Peeps books, and fell in love with them, and thankfully that didn't change for So Yesterday. The one thing that cracked me up about this book was how Hunter kept talking about how he came to New York from Minnesota and how he had to change all his Minnesotan ways to actually become cool. Ah, boy. Do us northerners really have such a bad reputation as being hicks? Sure, Target is our favorite store, we bundle up in hideous parkas to brave the frozen winters, and use the term Uff Da on a daily basis, but I didn't think we were so uncool as to be referenced in a book all about coolness. I think that's really funny! And a book that makes me laugh is a good one for sure. I loved, loved, loved So Yesterday because of its whole vibe. It subtly draws you in and uses a bunch of radical ideas to keep your attention. I enjoyed thinking about the innovators, the jammers, the Hoi Aristoi. If that stuff was actually real, would I even know it? It was neat to get a peek of what could possibly happen behind the scenes of pop culture as we know it. The writing was smooth, the characters were created with detail, and the ending was great possibly left open for a sequel? I hope... I highly recommend So Yesterday. It will captivate you, spark your interest, and make you think about things you never thought you'd have to think about. :P

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 20, 2012

    Unknown

    I really like the uglies series by this author way more

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 10, 2012

    Good

    It was a decent book. I liked it butit was not amazing because of the plot. It was aa bit underdeveloped. (The plot.)

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  • Posted January 16, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    Ummm?

    I grabbed this book after I read Pretties by the same author....the book it just kind of confused me...I never really got the point of the book, it was well written and interesting, but why....I just don't get the crux of the story to be completely honest. It is possible I missed it (which is probably the case) but nevertheless it was nothing in comparison to Pretties.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 6, 2011

    =p

    it was ok it makes you think of style and everything but i think it was kinda boring

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 3, 2010

    Another book I did not purchase; how are these books winding up on my account?

    I did not read this book.

    0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted June 15, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Great book!!

    I have read scott westerfeld's other books and i found this book really good. it sort of confused me a bit, but i liked how he brought up interesting facts and stories. really makes you think

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 24, 2009

    just sad.

    um ok so i have love love loved all the other books by scott westerfled i have read, pretties, peeps, and midnighters, so when i picked this book from the library i was really happy to read another good book. too bad it wasnt, i couldnt even read past page 60.

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  • Posted March 17, 2009

    An okay book.

    Hunter is a 'Trendsetter', someone who finds the newest coolest thing and then makes it widely popular. When Hunter's boss, Mandy, goes missing, it's up to him and Jen, an innovative and bold girl he met in a park, to find out where she went. They soon find themselves in a web of connected but seemingly unassociated things, like a building of the coolest shoes anyone has ever seen, a product called Poo-Sham that turns people's hair purple and doesn't exist, a magazine called Hoi Aristoi, a woman on roller skates, and a group that calls themselves the Jammers who have apparently dedicated to ungluing the world of cool as Hunter knows it.

    Overall, it was an okay book. It's not one of my favorites, but I did like the way the character's thoughts and insights were described. It left too many loose ends, and it's very difficult to understand how everything is connected. I was expecting a lot more because the plot was coming from so many different places, building and adding up to this big reveal that just kind of flopped. I didn't like the ending that much, bu it was a general, all-over okay-in-a-good-way book.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 25, 2009

    Its okay.

    I expected more coming from scott weserfeld, But odly enough I coudn't put it down. It got confusing at the end. But it was preety good.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 28, 2008

    Yay

    This book was fun and action-packed. Very typical of Scott Westerfeld. It also has a little romance. At times ,especially towards the end, it can become confusing, but it makes you think. I loved it adn couldnt put it down.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 14, 2008

    Just Wonderful!

    This book is a pretty good book. I was a bit disappointed just becasue of all the other books he had written before, so I had a big expectation. However over all the book was really good. I loved how he described New York in a way that I have never thought of before. However, there are some confusing parts, but it doesn't really take away from the effect of the book.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 6, 2008

    'Can I take a picture of your shoeslaces?' asked by Hunter to Jen.

    This is where we are told the story through Hunter's point of view on where he works and is to meet his boss Mandy but she doesn't show up thus they find her cell phone. This is where the suspense begins as Hunter and Jen try to find out what happened to Mandy and what's the deal with a pair of perfectly designed shoes? I liked how Hunter describes how he got to where he got including the history of things considered cool. Hunter questions his role in society thanks to Jen while trying to find Mandy. In any novel the story can sometimes get confusing. Read So Yesterday if you are a new or old fan of Scott Westerfeld.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 21, 2008

    Anti-fashion 101 ( A Student at the Gereau Center)

    The world of fashion is elite. They keep the world stocked with cool. But how do those little things become cool? Who was the first guy to wear his baseball cap backward? These Innovators who just don¿t seem to fit into society shake things up! Cool Hunters seek these Innovators out and start a fashion trend by stealing their little pieces of flair or individuality and sometimes mass marketing them. What would happen when another factor, anti-fashion, comes into play? Scott Westerfeld has found a way to create a believable world of fantasy right before out eyes. Not only is the situation immensely believable but the characters including their mannerisms added a bit or surrealism into the reality of the fashion pyramid. The use of imagery in this book is explicitly wonderful ¿I reached out, and my hand glowed in the shaft of sunlight, as if the shoes were infecting me with their magic. The texture of the panels was something I¿d never felt before, as rough and pliable as canvas but with the silvery shine of metal. The laces flowed through my fingers as softly as ropes made out of silk. The eyelets seemed to have tiny spokes that turned when I flexed the shoe, using the same effect as those 3-D postcards that change when you look at them from different directions.¿ (Westerfeld 37) The description adds a lot of character to this story. Also many slight allusions are used in this book. ¿She named a certain Web search tool whose name means a very large number. (Oh, forget it. I¿m not going to get very far telling this story if I can¿t say `Google¿) ¿It¿s not a big deal,¿ Jen said. ¿It just popped into my head, you know?¿ ¿Yeah, like who watches The Mod Squad anymore?¿ Hillary Hyphen said, ending her eye roll with an exquisite glare at Jen.(Westerfeld 15) The last literary device that was really apparent throughout the integrity of the book was symbolism. ¿I laughed, which hurt because of the cobblestone in my stomach. So those were the rules: no mentioning the Jammers or the shoes.¿ (Westerfeld 213) The best part of this book was the random trivia that Hunter seemed to have stuffed into his brain. They added a wonderfully hilarious change from the normal ¿cool¿ main character. ¿I nodded. ¿Jennifer was the most popular girls name in the 1970¿s and number two in the 1980¿s.¿ The worst part of the book was the confusion that comes from cramming the climax and resolution into less than 40 pages. In spite of the rushed ending So Yesterday is a wonderful book.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 29, 2008

    so yesterday review

    So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld Review by Natasha I have been to New York City before but, I have never seen it quite like this. The book, So Yesterday written by the best selling author Scott Westerfeld, makes the city sound even more of an adventure then I have ever had. It all starts off when Hunter sees Jen¿s shoelaces. As soon as he saw her shoelaces, he knew she was an innovator. Jen is my favorite character in the book. She¿s at the top of the pyramid as an innovator. She¿s the one to start the new trends. She make¿s herself stand out and is not afraid to be who she is. The first thing she did to show her own unique style was by wearing fuzzy red shoelaces and lacing them to make them her own. ¿It¿s what you do. And you do it in a really cool way. I like the stuff in your brain.¿ Jen saying Hunter is cool, has a real impact on him. Hunter is a typical trendsetter. He gets paid to give his opinion on the hot new thing that every teenager would want to buy. If they are cool, they are on the racks of stores as soon as possible. He always has the new shoes, phones, and clothes. The employer of hunter, would be Mandy. She¿s the one that started the focus group. She loves to see what the next thing everyone will be buying is. She is very creative and has a very good eye for seeing new exciting `cool¿ things. Hunter is invisible. When he meets Jen she shows him a new kind of cool. She shows him how to see cool in a different way and not the way everyone else sees it. When she starts coming to the focus groups, everything starts to change. All the change that follows, is for the better. The theme of this book is simple. It¿s about seeing things from another persons eyes and not judging them. Hunter learns a lot from Jen. After they meet, he isn¿t the same person he was before. When Hunter and Jen think Mandy is missing, that is their main focus. All they want to do is find who kidnapped her. Their curiosity brings them many adventures. On their journey to find Mandy, they also find themselves. They see each other in a new different way and they like it.

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