A teen hacker is recruited for an anti-bully, pro-free speech vigilante project.During freshman year, Jordan Bishop committed suicide by self-immolation in the cafeteria. With online bullying blamed, the fallout for everyone else includes strict monitoring of internet activities. Eli ends up on the radar of Mouse and Seth, two other coders at his school who were friends of Jordan's, and they bring him on as the third member of their team in an annual hacking contest with big prizes. They must find flaws in the student cybermonitoring system—but instead of hacking the monitors, they plan to bring the monitors to them with a site that offers secure anonymity to teens, enabling them to air secrets about bullies like those who targeted Jordan with classist, homophobic, and other taunts. Eli's reluctant—his previous just-to-see-if-he-could hacks caused major damage, and this could land him in huge trouble if he's discovered—but he is tempted by the challenge. Those targeted by the site face public humiliation and consequences for their misdeeds, but the line between justice and vengeance thins, especially when a mean-girl bully targets Eli's Mexican-American (in a primarily white community) crush with racist nastiness. The morally complex story avoids simple answers and is taut with tension as readers wonder if Eli will go too far or get caught—only for a third-act twist to complicate things further.Provocative, timely, and intense. (Fiction. 13-adult)

Eli's high school is still haunted by the suicide of computer whiz Jordan, who set himself on fire in the cafeteria after a history of being bullied. One year later, sophomore Eli is completely bored with school and spends most of his time writing code. Then he receives a cryptic coded message from Jordan's friends Seth and Mouse. Jordan had been their third team member for a hacking competition, and they need a replacement. But Eli soon realizes that Seth and Mouse also want to avenge Jordan's death. Meanwhile, Eli builds a relationship with Mexican American Isabel and begins to accept his changing family. For Eli, navigating his shifting power in the unruly "real world" is a new experience, completely different from the satisfying order he creates through coding. Lange's tightly plotted, fast-moving mystery shows great understanding of the power dynamics of social cliques, capturing hierarchies and dialogues of different groups. It's not subtle, but young coders will be thrilled to see themselves portrayed in a strong and positive light beyond the usual stereotypes.

Disillusioned Eli teams up with two other high-school hackers to expose the bullies who drove a fellow student to suicide, but as their plan spins out of control, he realizes that the situation wasn't as black-and-white as he was led to believe. At times, the character interactions feel forced, but the high-stakes plot crescendos to a satisfyingly chilling conclusion.

A teen hacker is recruited for an anti-bully, pro-free speech vigilante project.During freshman year, Jordan Bishop committed suicide by self-immolation in the cafeteria. With online bullying blamed, the fallout for everyone else includes strict monitoring of internet activities. Eli ends up on the radar of Mouse and Seth, two other coders at his school who were friends of Jordan's, and they bring him on as the third member of their team in an annual hacking contest with big prizes. They must find flaws in the student cybermonitoring system—but instead of hacking the monitors, they plan to bring the monitors to them with a site that offers secure anonymity to teens, enabling them to air secrets about bullies like those who targeted Jordan with classist, homophobic, and other taunts. Eli's reluctant—his previous just-to-see-if-he-could hacks caused major damage, and this could land him in huge trouble if he's discovered—but he is tempted by the challenge. Those targeted by the site face public humiliation and consequences for their misdeeds, but the line between justice and vengeance thins, especially when a mean-girl bully targets Eli's Mexican-American (in a primarily white community) crush with racist nastiness. The morally complex story avoids simple answers and is taut with tension as readers wonder if Eli will go too far or get caught—only for a third-act twist to complicate things further.Provocative, timely, and intense. (Fiction. 13-adult)