Deepfake by Sarah Darer Littman [Book]

“Dara Simons and Will Hochman have everything they’ve ever wanted. They are the rulers of Greenpoint High’s geekdom, overachieving in every way, and it’s an intense competition to see who will be valedictorian. One the entire school is invested in. That is, until Rumor Has It, the anonymous gossip site, posts a video of Dara accusing Will of paying someone to take the SAT for him.

When the video goes viral, suddenly Will’s being investigated, and everyone’s wondering how he pulled off cheating on the SAT. But Dara swears that she didn’t say any of those things, which seems a little hard to believe since it’s her in the video.

Did Will cheat?

Is it Dara saying he did?

Who’s lying, and who’s telling the truth?

The answer is more shocking than anyone realizes …” – sarahdarerlittman.com

******

Hello Folks! Today we are taking some time away from our regular weekly interviews to tell you all about a wonderful new book that will be available next week that I feel as though you should all read, enjoy, and take heed to just how frightening the future can be despite all the good that technological advances can be. We will get into the latter in a minute.

For those of you who are unaware, I am the father of two teenage daughters, and a pre-teen daughter right behind them. As a 35 year old male, and probably any father of teens at any age I would imagine, it can be increasingly difficult to relate to what young adult females are interested in. That is why, a couple of years ago, I asked my then soon-to-be 13 year old daughter, Ava, who some of her favorite authors were. She immediately shot back with Sarah Darer Littman. I believe she was just off the cusp of reading one of her earlier works and was extremely intrigued by not only the story, but the way in which it was written. Thus, I decided to reach out, and to the great glee of then pre-teen Ava, Sarah was kind enough to grant us an interview. Not only that, she was even kinder to pass along a pre-release copy of her book Anything But Okay. Check the links to see what awesomeness came out of that.

And alas, here we are again, Folks. Sarah has a wonderful new book coming out that is just as shocking a revealing as anything she has written in the past. As the world advances, so does Littman’s ability to capture the youth in an honest and credible way. And on a personal level, Deepfake had be shook primarily because I had NO IDEA THIS WAS POSSIBLE. Yet, when I asked Ava, as well as her younger sister Sophia about the concept, I got the “yeah, I know” reaction that I wasn’t expecting. How terrifying is that? It’s a true clueless dad moment for sure. Yet I am fortunate that I have (somehow) raised three kids who are very self-aware of the dangers that surround them, and choose the path of enlightenment towards the greater good rather than the sometimes easier path of selfishness and evil. This is not a humble brag. It’s complete bemusement. I guess credit to my wife? As I was a terrible teenager. But, we don’t need to get into that…..

author of Deepfake, Sarah Darer Littman

Anyway, Deepfake takes us on a journey of modern teenagers who a desperate to excel academically (Fellow former terrible students, I know, it seems impossible, right?) and who also happen to have the power of technology at their disposal. And as unfortunately as we all know, the power of technology also comes with the power of anonymity. Which if you have spent any time on Twitter, you know exactly what I mean. But, we have reached an era where we can make actual videos of people saying things that are completely untrue. And quite frankly, and should be unsurprisingly, that scares me so much. And if you were as clueless to this idea as I was before going into this book, I highly recommend that not only every high schooler across the globe read Deepfake, but parents as well. The cause and effect of modern technology being used as a tool of revenge, backlash, or terror is very real and perfectly detailed in this incredible book.

I will admit, I do not partake in much reading of Young Adult fiction on a personal level. But, I have been validated by the previously mentioned young adult, Ava, that Littman’s writing is top pier in the YA world. I feel as though what makes her special is her ability to not mock the youth. She uses language that feels very real in terms of dialogue, and she uses descriptors and characterizing in a way that presents imagery that will not confuse the youth, but with intrigue adults. The YA world has become one of the most fascinating means of communicating messages to the world, especially to the youth, which are, as we are consistently told, are the future.

Check out Deepfake, Folks. It’s not just a book with a powerful message, it’s a well-written novel for the modern age, and I simply can not recommend it enough. Enjoy!

Deepfake will be released on October 6th, 2020 from Scholastic Press. Find it wherever you buy your books. For more information, visit sarahdarerlittman.com.