Unplugged and Unpopular is a graphic novel written by Mat Heagerty and illustrated by Tintin Pantoja and Mike Amante. It is currently scheduled for release on October 15 2019.
Erin Song lives in a digital world. Everyone has a phone, a tablet, a computer—more screens than you can count. Even with a world of information at her fingertips, Erin can’t figure out the secret to popularity at her clique-y junior high school. So when uber-popular Wendy asks for help cheating on a test, Erin jumps at the opportunity. This could be her big break! Unfortunately, she gets caught, and her parents ban her from all her devices. Suddenly, Erin Song is the only girl in the world who’s not allowed to look at a screen. And that’s when Erin notices something funny: small, furry aliens making humans disappear with a weird device Erin’s never seen before. No one else notices them, though—except Erin’s grandmother and two old men who run the local library. They’ve discovered that the aliens are using screens to control the human race, tricking them into thinking they aren’t really there—and that anyone who’s been abducted never existed. Now it’s up to Erin and her grandmother to save the day! But without technology on their side, do they stand a chance?
Unplugged and Unpopular is a graphic novel for the tween set. Let's start with what I thought were the best aspects of the story. I thought the story was fun, and many readers will enjoy it. The desire popularity and discovering what is really important is a big part of Erin's story, andI thought that aspect was handle very well. Also, the way many people treat children and older adults was sadly a little too close to the truth for my peace of mind. I liked the art style a great deal, it capture the intent and mood of the story well and frankly was the high point of the story for me. It was similar in style to some of my favorite graphic novels, so it was familiar and comfortable to me. If I were reviewing only on the art the book would have gotten more stars.
Now, for the things that bothered me as I read. While I do think the dependence on technology is a good starting point, because it is clearly a large part of society right now, I thought it was a little heavy handed and frankly wrong on some aspects. I feel like the author has not been in a library for many years, because librarians tend to be on the forefront of tech- because patrons will have questions on how to use it and they need access to the more accurate and current information possible to do their jobs. Yes, there are librarians that are not well versed in tech, but I have yet to see a library with no computer screens or tech available for staff or patrons. Also, I found the no-screen thing extremely ironic as I was reading a digital galley rather than a paper one.
Unplugged and Unpopular is a well drawn graphic novel with a fun story. I did not love it, but think some readers will enjoy it more than I.
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