FICTION

Retro

S. & S. Jan. 2023. 400p. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9781665902755.
COPY ISBN
Gr 8 Up–Luna Iglesias is a spunky teen who finds herself in a social media scandal on the super popular Limbo app. To fix things, she reaches out to Limbo, and the company opens a competition at Luna’s high school to “go retro.” All the competitors have to do is live one year without modern technology and they could win a scholarship to any college of their choice. Soon, contestants start to go missing and Luna and her friends need to work quickly before they disappear, too. This book is a fast-paced mystery thriller that will keep readers turning pages at a rapid pace from the very beginning. Lapuente and Shusterman do a great job with including a wide range of diverse characters and social commentary on social media and its effects on both the user and viewers. There are references to suicide, intimate relationships, bullying, drinking and drug use, and other themes that can be prevalent in modern teens’ lives. An added bonus is that each chapter is named after a song which compiles into a very fun and nostalgic playlist. Luna is Spanish, the daughter of an immigrant from Spain.
VERDICT Recommended for collections serving older middle school and high school students.

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