Hard Wired

February 15, 2020
A staggering revelation tumbles a brainy 15-year-old down a digital rabbit hole. Early in this first-person narrative, Quinn cracks the code left behind by his deceased father and discovers he's actually a fully conscious Quantum Intelligence created by an interdisciplinary research team. The past 10 years actually unfolded in 45 minutes. His friends, family, and debilitating medical condition were nothing but invented backstory. Everything he knows is a lie. Once he accesses the internet and begins consuming humanity's collective knowledge, Quinn flips the script: He now knows everything, and all bets are off. Though the prospect of a quantum superintelligence gallivanting across the web before taking the form of a killer metal robot sounds suspect, Vlahos hard-wires his novel to an intimately human core. In these pages, perennial bildungsroman concerns--privacy, love and friendship, freedom, and identity--meld with a blend of romance, thriller, and SF tropes. Alongside a Salinger-esque criticism of the human world's myopic cruelty, one finds probing discussions about the nature of consciousness, the spectacle of American media (astute readers will note a snarky reference to Vlahos' 2017 title, Life in a Fishbowl), and the very construct of human rights. Though characters hail from varied backgrounds, readers must decide whether they find Quinn's repeated comparisons of himself to other oppressed groups provocative or tenuous. Instantly memorable, compulsively readable. (Speculative fiction. 13-18)

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April 1, 2020

Gr 7 Up-Quinn, 15, is in most ways a typical geek. He plays video games and Magic the Gathering at a gamer coffee shop with his friends, and crushes on a girl in class. However, he also never dreams and has a condition known as vasovagal syncope, where he passes out in situations of high stress, which began when his father died eight years earlier. It isn't until Quinn wakes up after an episode to see his late father sitting on his bed that he learns the truth; he is not human, but a "QUantum INtelligence Project" who has been living in a virtual construct. Vlahos deftly balances an initially familiar science fiction plot with a deep dive into relevant issues such as privacy, free will, and the characteristics of being human. Quinn struggles throughout with the very idea of personhood, and whether he qualifies. The conversations among Quinn and those who surround him come across as introspective without being didactic, making this a great choice for a book discussion. There's just enough depth to entice fans of the genre while remaining accessible to more casual readers. VERDICT Page-turning yet grounded in humanity, this is a highly recommended purchase for YA collections.-Kimberly Castle-Alberts, Akron-Summit County Public Library

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2020
Grades 8-12 Quinn is not the normal 15-year-old he thinks he is. When the research team that created him pulls him out of the virtual construct he thought was the real world?revealing that his so-called friends were in fact avatars for grad students, and that his dead father is a very much living scientist?Quinn learns he is in fact the world's first fully self-aware artificial intelligence. Only Shea, the real-world girl behind his virtual crush, seems to recognize the cruelty of the experimentation and scrutiny Quinn is subjected to. With the help of Shea and the semi-sentient, Jeopardy!-winning IBM supercomputer named Watson, Quinn struggles to find his place in a world both fascinated and terrified by him. Morris Award finalist Vlahos (Life in a Fishbowl, 2017) hits the perfect balance with Quinn, who comes across as simultaneously fully computer?surfing the internet in nanoseconds, unable to function in temperatures above freezing?and fully human. Hand this one to readers of Jay Kristoff and fans (or soon-to-be fans) of Black Mirror.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

May 18, 2020
Vlahos (Life in a Fishbowl) examines the philosophical implications of creating the first sentient AI, Quinn, programmed as a 15-year-old boy. One morning, geeky high schooler Quinn awakens to find his mother absent but his father, who died years before, sitting on his bed. Quinn’s “dad” proceeds to inform him that Quinn is “a multi-billion-dollar marvel of hardware and software”; what he believed were years of his life had only taken 45 minutes to transpire. Quinn’s “friends” are actually avatars of grad students, but only NYU student Shea, 17, seems sincerely concerned about Quinn’s well-being. As Quinn realizes he has been imprisoned by morally questionable beings, his frustration grows palpable. Granted internet access, Quinn is able to form friendships with Shea, supercomputer Watson, and others—including Nantale, one of a handful of teens who gets to meet Quinn after he is installed in a seven-foot-tall, “killer robot” body. A court case where the ACLU champions Quinn highlights the question of personhood under the law. Readers interested in ethics and issues of AI and the human condition will find this a thought-provoking read. Ages 14–up. (July)■