Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow

Doctorow, C. (2012). Pirate Cinema. New York: Tor Teen. ISBN 9781604864045 

Plot Summary 

Trent McCauley has one true passion, remixing and editing movies that he has downloaded from the Internet to create his own, new creation.  The new laws in Britain prohibit this, enforcing a three strikes ruling before suspending Internet access to your household for an entire year.  While Trent feels he can avoid this, he does not, bringing the punishment down on his household.  Figuring the best way to circumvent the law banning Internet on his household is to runaway and become homeless, Trent learns of even more strict laws set to arrive at Parliament and vows to fight a system he believes is unjust.

Critical Evaluation 

Much like Little Brother, Pirate Cinema is Doctorow writing about teens espousing their belief in the rights to open source media and Internet freedom.  Though this is fiction, it is also part of Doctorow's efforts to engage young readers in current events and make them more aware of the digital society they inhabit and how new laws and technologies are often at odds.  The villains in Pirate Cinema are media conglomerates threatened by illegal downloads so much so that they want to persecute the very people they should be making in to customers.  While not as explicitly serious as Little Brother, Pirate Cinema is a fine new book from Doctorow that fits in the same thematic arc of his oeuvre. 

Reader's Annotation 

If your life is spent on the Internet, what happens when they take it away and you become a felon?

Author Information 

Realizing the need for authoritative, brief author biographies, Doctorow offers one sentence and one paragraph versions, the latter listed here:

"Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger -- the co-editor of Boing Boing (boingboing.net) and the author of young adult novels like HOMELAND, PIRATE CINEMA and LITTLE BROTHER and novels for adults like RAPTURE OF THE NERDS and MAKERS. He is the former European director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and co-founded the UK Open Rights Group. Born in Toronto, Canada, he now lives in London."

In addition, he has made his recent works free under Creative Commons licenses and is exploring the usefulness in making his works available for free.  He is interested in the evolving relationship between traditional media and new ways in which to experience and manipulate that media.  These ideas appear frequently is his recent works.

Genre 

Fiction, contemporary

Curriculum Ties 

Reading and Language Arts, Technology

Booktalking Ideas 

As Trent describe all of the times he uses the Internet in a single day, presumably an exhaustive list.  Then show his fright at the possibility of losing access.

Reading Level/Interest Age 

This book is rated 1090L on the Lexile Range.  It is ideal for ages 15-18.

Challenge Issues
There are some political suggestions, but nothing really offensive here.
 

If challenged, I would first suggest being familiar with the work in order to speak about it directly. Then, listen the challenger's complaint, show them to positive reviews, and refer to the collection policy, stating a need to include a variety of works that may not be suitable for all, but should contain something for everyone. As a last resort, turn to the ALA Bill of Rights or First Amendment defense, but try not to let things get there; listen and reassure the patron.

Reason Selected

After reading Little Brother, I became more interested in Doctorow and his newest book tackles an issue that seems somewhat innocuous, but is revealed to be damning in this always connected world.

References 

About Cory Doctorow. (2013). Cory Doctorow's Craphound.com. Retrieved April 15, 2013, from http://craphound.com/bio.php