Synopsis
Kid knows her school’s corporate sponsors not-so-secretly monitor her friendships and activities for market research. It’s all a part of the Game; the alternative education system designed to use the addictive kick from video games to encourage academic learning. Everyday, a captive audience of students ages 13-17 enter the nationwide chain store-like Game locations to play.
When a group calling themselves The Unidentified simulates a suicide to protest the power structure of their school, Kid’s investigation into their pranks attracts unwanted attention from the sponsors. As Kid finds out she doesn't have rights to her ideas, her privacy, or identity, she and her friends look for a way to revolt in a place where all acts of rebellion are just spun into the next new ad campaign.
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About the Author
Rae Mariz currently lives in Stockholm after working in public libraries in Seattle, dropping out of art school in Portland, and spending her formative years bouncing around the Bay Area. She's a language geek who enjoys spending her time on ambitious craft projects and playing video games. This is her first novel for teens.
From School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up–In a startlingly plausible dystopian society, the school system has failed to the point that the government gives over control of national education to corporations. These conglomerates have banded together to create what are known as Game Centers. Here students like Katey Dade, or Kid, go to “school” in refurbished shopping malls. They swipe cards to get in and out, they carry issued cell phones with GPS trackers, they post continuously to profile pages and status feeds (similar to Facebook and Twitter), while administrators and corporate officials monitor their every move. Students who achieve the highest scores in games, set the coolest fashion trends, and gain the utmost popularity are “Branded,” instantly assisting the corporations to plug their wares. Kid coasts, never looking to become Branded, but then she is taken up by not just one corporate sponsor, but two, as a “trendspotter.” As she tries to balance new expectations with betrayals by lifelong friends and new relationships, Kid also begins to question the societal structure around her. Drawn to the prank-pulling group calling themselves The Unidentified, she longs for her previous anonymity and blissful ignorance of the shady dealings all around her. Well written and featuring a cast that most readers will find some sort of connection with, this novel is an impressive debut. Teens will immediately be able to see the connections to today's technology-dependent society and imagine how the future could be eerily like the setting in The Unidentified. Kid takes readers through myriad emotions on her whirlwind tour as a “name” in the game, and readers will be fixated until the very end. Recommend this one to fans of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2008) and James Dashner's The Maze Runner (Delacorte, 2009).Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, CT
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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The Unidentified (Paperback)
Published by
Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2011
ISBN 10: 192165693X
ISBN 13: 9781921656934
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Seller: Grand Eagle Retail, Bensenville, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Fifteen-year-old Katey, aka Kid, goes to school in the Game - a 'school' run by corporate sponsors. Social networking is as natural as breathing, your online profile is everything, and striving to get ahead in the popularity stakes involves a careful navigation that could go wrong at any turn.The corporations watch the students to spot the next trend and the kids vie with each other to be noticed and sponsored by the corporations. Being 'branded' means celebrity status, not to mention financial freedom.But what kind of freedom is it when you're always being watched? And how important is it to be the coolest and most popular kid when your identity is owned by a corporation?When Kid witnesses a mock suicide staged by an anonymous group calling itself the Unidentified she begins to ask herself those questions.The Unidentified is a book about identity, freedom and integrity, a book that will lead readers to discuss the power of marketing and the media, our desire to fit in and be popular, and the importance of making a stand for what you believe in. Katey goes to school in the Game, which is run by corporate sponsors. Social networking is as natural as breathing, your online profile is everything. The corporations watch the students to spot the next trend. Being 'branded' means celebrity status, not to mention financial freedom. But what kind of freedom is it when you're always being watched? Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781921656934
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The Unidentified
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Paperback. Condition: Good. 304 pages. ex-libraryKid knows her school?s corporate sponsors not-so-secretly monitor her frien dships and activities for market research. It?s all a part of the Game; the al ternative education system designed to use the addictive kick from video games t. Seller Inventory # 1927h
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The Unidentified (Paperback)
Published by
Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2011
ISBN 10: 192165693X
ISBN 13: 9781921656934
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Seller: AussieBookSeller, Truganina, VIC, Australia
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Fifteen-year-old Katey, aka Kid, goes to school in the Game - a 'school' run by corporate sponsors. Social networking is as natural as breathing, your online profile is everything, and striving to get ahead in the popularity stakes involves a careful navigation that could go wrong at any turn.The corporations watch the students to spot the next trend and the kids vie with each other to be noticed and sponsored by the corporations. Being 'branded' means celebrity status, not to mention financial freedom.But what kind of freedom is it when you're always being watched? And how important is it to be the coolest and most popular kid when your identity is owned by a corporation?When Kid witnesses a mock suicide staged by an anonymous group calling itself the Unidentified she begins to ask herself those questions.The Unidentified is a book about identity, freedom and integrity, a book that will lead readers to discuss the power of marketing and the media, our desire to fit in and be popular, and the importance of making a stand for what you believe in. Katey goes to school in the Game, which is run by corporate sponsors. Social networking is as natural as breathing, your online profile is everything. The corporations watch the students to spot the next trend. Being 'branded' means celebrity status, not to mention financial freedom. But what kind of freedom is it when you're always being watched? Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781921656934
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The Unidentified (Paperback)
Published by
Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2011
ISBN 10: 192165693X
ISBN 13: 9781921656934
New
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Seller: CitiRetail, Stevenage, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Fifteen-year-old Katey, aka Kid, goes to school in the Game - a 'school' run by corporate sponsors. Social networking is as natural as breathing, your online profile is everything, and striving to get ahead in the popularity stakes involves a careful navigation that could go wrong at any turn.The corporations watch the students to spot the next trend and the kids vie with each other to be noticed and sponsored by the corporations. Being 'branded' means celebrity status, not to mention financial freedom.But what kind of freedom is it when you're always being watched? And how important is it to be the coolest and most popular kid when your identity is owned by a corporation?When Kid witnesses a mock suicide staged by an anonymous group calling itself the Unidentified she begins to ask herself those questions.The Unidentified is a book about identity, freedom and integrity, a book that will lead readers to discuss the power of marketing and the media, our desire to fit in and be popular, and the importance of making a stand for what you believe in. Katey goes to school in the Game, which is run by corporate sponsors. Social networking is as natural as breathing, your online profile is everything. The corporations watch the students to spot the next trend. Being 'branded' means celebrity status, not to mention financial freedom. But what kind of freedom is it when you're always being watched? Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781921656934
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