AVERIL OFFLINE

Two kids rebel against intrusive surveillance.

Averil’s a computer whiz who excels in the Tech class that she and her friends Priya and Max are taking, but even she feels suffocated by Ruby Slippers, the app that her parents use to keep tabs on her. Max learns that the app will soon allow parents to turn on the camera and microphone on their kids’ smartphones, and he wants to meet its creator, Rider Woollyback, who has a lab at the local university, and convince him to stop the increased surveillance. Max needs Averil’s tech smarts to enter Woollyback’s inner sanctum—to get in, visitors must win games and provide “interesting” answers to questions posed by his assistant. Max and his multimillionaire father have already failed to gain admittance, and he thinks that successfully getting in will raise his dad’s opinion of him. He proposes that he and Averil ditch their upcoming coding camp and instead attempt to meet Woollyback while Priya covers for Averil. While the plot is a bit far-fetched, Averil and Max’s burgeoning friendship is well developed and will pull in readers. Parks also deftly grapples with relevant issues, such as the sexism that women and girls in STEM often face, the overwhelming presence of technology in our lives, and young people’s need for autonomy. Most characters are cued white; Priya is of Indian descent.

An absorbing tale of determination, friendship, and tech gone wrong.