Our Rating: A

In the novel, Feed, M. T. Anderson explores how the use of technology affects society through the eyes of a teenager from the future. The protagonist, Titus, an adolescent addicted to technology, narrates the story and describes how computers called feeds are located inside of everyone’s brain making them substantially dumber. For the book Feed, Anderson was a National Award Finalist and Los Angeles Book Prize Winner. He is also recognized as a member of New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year, Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards – Honor Book, and Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year. M. T. Anderson has also written Burger Wuss, Thirsty, and Zombie Mommy.

In a world where there is a small computer inside everyone’s head, all need for social interaction is lost and answers are only a search away. It then becomes normal for teenagers like Titus to be addicted to their Feed™. In this altered world, the government is now run by large corporations that simply advertise their products without concern for the well being of their citizens.

On a weekend trip to the Moon, Titus meets Violet, a smart girl who decides to try and fight her Feed™. She fights the advertising, the temptation to watch TV, and the urge to play games. In short, Violet fights it all. When Titus meets her, he is easily intrigued because he has never met anyone like her. Their conversation is suddenly interrupted when a hacker takes control of their Feeds™. For the rest of that day, the teenagers are disconnected from their Feeds™, leaving them incompetent and bored. With everything occurring, Violet proves to Titus how reliant his friends are on their Feeds™.  Afterwards, a love story unfolds when they both try to figure out the effects of the infamous hack and Violet helps open Titus’ eyes to what is happening to the world around them. Although Titus was reluctant at first, he now sees how his feed is slowly making him dumber.

The message behind this novel is helpful to our technological generation, considering the fact that we are constantly unaware of how our personal posts online may be used. This novel clearly shows that it is important to avoid being dependent on technology, which is why I really enjoyed it. I highly recommend this novel, because it will give you a new perspective on our daily lives. I specifically enjoyed how M. T. Anderson told the story through someone who was addicted to technology, and added surprising twists. I believe that this story is a great read for all teenagers because it warns us about the dangers of technology and clearly shows the importance of being independent.