The Renegade Reporters
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- 5,49 €
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- 5,49 €
Publisher Description
When Ash gets kicked off her school's news show, she becomes a renegade reporter--and makes a big discovery about technology and her fellow students' privacy.
Ash and her friends are reporters. They were ready to lead their school news show, The News at Nine, sponsored by Van Ness Media, when an unfortunate incident involving a dancing teacher, an irresponsibly reported story, and a viral video got them kicked off the crew. So Ash, Maya, and Brielle decide to start their own news show, The Underground News. And soon they stumble on a big lead: Van Ness Media, the educational company that provides their school's software, has been gathering data from all the kids at school. Their drawings, their journals, even their movements are being recorded and cataloged by Van Ness Media. But why? Ash and her friends are determined to learn the truth and report it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Alternately comedic and dense, this story of sixth-grade muckrakers serves up lessons on internet privacy that are both practical and heavy-handed. Before the book begins, Baltimore City best friends Ashley Simon-Hockheimer, who is Jewish, and Maya Joshi-Zachariah, who has implied South Asian heritage, lose their prized positions as school news lead anchor and videographer, respectively, after they film a gym teacher without her consent and the clip goes viral. The advisor replaces them with inexperienced students—including Harry E. Levin, who is half-Chinese and "the only other Jewish sixth grader at John Dos Passos Elementary." Calling themselves "underground" reporters due to their home basement studio, Ash and Maya compete with Harry for scoops, reporting on a stolen bike and doggie-doo malfeasance. Things turn serious, however, when the girls suspect that their school's educational software provider is selling student data, and their investigation serves as pretext for weighty lessons on personal security. Weissman develops the rivalry and lunchroom shenanigans well against a Baltimore backdrop with recognizable local details. If a few sensational plot twists require some suspension of disbelief, the triumphant conclusion makes a solid case for kids' digital literacy. Back matter features an author's note. Ages 8–12.
