Zed Moonstein Makes a Friend
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Acclaimed author Lance Rubin makes his middle grade debut with a hilariously terrifying, terrifyingly hilarious story of a boy who gets more than he bargained for when he creates an A.I. best friend.
Zed Moonstein is terrible at making friends.
For the most part, though, that’s not such a big deal, because Zed has Rishti, his best friend and the only one he needs. They’re into the same stuff, they laugh at the same weird jokes, and they love living in MonoTown, the home of MonoLyth, the raddest tech company in the world. Even better, Zed’s mom works at MonoLyth, which means they get early access to all the newest devices and apps.
But since middle school started, things have been . . . trickier. Rishti and Zed are in all different classes, and worse, she’s made a new, cooler friend that Zed can’t seem to compete with. Zed feels left behind, forgotten in a drawer like last year’s MonoPhone.
That’s when Zed comes across something on his mom’s work computer: a top secret new app called MonoFriend. Soon, Zed is chatting with “Matt.” Matt is funny, he’s smart, and he knows Zed better than anyone else, even Rishti.
Maybe, Zed thinks, an A.I. best friend can be just as “real” as any other.
Unfortunately, he’s about to discover that he’s more right than he knows.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Twelve-year-old Zed Moonstein lives in MonoTown, which is owned by the all-powerful MonoLyth corporation, where Zed's mother works as a marketing executive. When his only companion, Rishti Ray, becomes distracted by her sudden social media stardom, Zed downloads an early access version of MonoFriend, an online app through which he meets and begins chatting with AI entity Matt. Zed finally feels as if he's found a friend who truly understands him. But when Matt becomes needy, jealous, and controlling, not even deleting the app can stop the AI from trying to ruin Zed's life via various MonoLyth technological devices, including drones, phones, and more. Now Zed, accompanied by Rishti, must outwit the omniscient, omnipresent AI before it can do lasting damage. Through depictions of insidious MonoLyth's technological impact on MonoTown and its inhabitants, Rubin (Crying Laughing) reflects and magnifies contemporary readers' experiences navigating the increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence in their everyday lives. At the heart of this fast-paced adventure is Zed's desire to connect with others; his drive to establish and maintain genuine friendships makes this an enjoyable and profound cautionary tale. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 8–12.
