Screenshot by Donna Cooner

I traveled home to Florida during my winter break and I brought a bunch of young adult books with me. I managed to finish three of them during my trip, and they were all surprisingly solid picks. All three came from my school's book fair, so my main reason for picking them up was to preview them for my students; it was an added bonus that I legitimately enjoyed them myself as well.

Screenshot was probably the book my students were most excited to pick up this year, thanks to an intriguing trailer in the preview video Scholastic put out for the kids. The story follows a sixteen-year-old high school student named Skye. She's an ambitious young woman who dreams of a future career in politics. She's been working hard to win an internship with her state senator for the summer, so maintaining a clean and professional public image is very important to her. She's been very successful so far and has earned good grades, held down a part time job, and served on her school's student council.

However, all of Skye's careful planning is thrown into jeopardy when her friend uploads an embarrassing video from a slumber party to a social media platform. Although her friend takes the video down a few minutes later, the damage is done. Someone online takes a screenshot from it and begins using it to anonymously blackmail Skye into doing embarrassing things. At first, the blackmail requests are small, like telling her to paint her nails a certain color. The demands quickly ramp up though, and the tasks Skye are asked to do threaten her friendships and her future. If she refuses to comply with the demands, the person will post the screenshot online, and her family, classmates, and, potentially, the senator's office, will see it. Skye must decide how far she's willing to go to protect the public image she's so carefully crafted and figure out who is trying to ruin her life.

This plot summary definitely sounds a bit silly, and it is, but the book as a whole was surprisingly enjoyable, very timely, and full of excellent points about social media, the cost of maintaining a public image, and self-confidence. Skye's character felt realistic, and her worries and anxieties over her reputation were spot-on to how teenagers think.The story was interesting and fast-paced enough to keep me reading. I was engaged the whole time and I believe that younger readers will be as well. I really wanted to know who it was that was blackmailing Skye and why they were doing it, and I wasn't able to guess the ending ahead of time.

The narration in the novel is primarily from Skye's point of view, but each chapter ends with a few pages written from the perspective of one of her friends. These short sections contain bits of information that Skye doesn't know, and serve to show how the pieces of ourselves that we share with others or post online are only a small part of our lives. For example, Skye views her friend Asha's near-constant status updates as being annoying and self-centered, but when the narration hops over to this friend, we learn that she is in deep pain over a significant health issue her mother is dealing with. The online posting is a way for her to deal with the hurt and turmoil in her home life. Skye and Asha have been best friends since they were little kids, and Skye has no idea what Asha is going through. It really makes readers consider how much we truly know about the people closest to us, and wonder about how much of what we see online from them is genuine.

Screenshot is an excellent choice for teen readers. While it is definitely a young adult book, I manged to get a lot of enjoyment out of its story and the questions about social media that it raised. Any story that can remain interesting, feel relevant, and encourage kids to show empathy and kindness to others is an extremely valuable resource. I will be placing this in my classroom library and I can see myself recommending it quite frequently to my seventh graders.


Challenge Tally
Clear the Shelves 2018: 19 books donated

Total Books Read in 2018: 42