Finally Heard
by Kelly Yang
Intermediate    Simon    352 pp.
2/24    9781665947930    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781665947954    $10.99

In this cautionary tale, the sequel to Finally Seen (rev. 1/23), the perks and perils of social media play a pivotal—and educational—role. The Gaos still struggle with bills, and Lina’s mom joins Instagram to sell more bath bombs. Fifth grader Lina gets her first smartphone, and while technology offers some positives (video-chatting with her Beijing grandma, promoting her neighbors’ small businesses), they are outweighed by the negatives. She envies her classmates’ fancy homes, worries about her physical appearance, and experiences cyberbullying (as both a target and a bully); and her best friend gets catfished by an adult. Everything converges when the school holds a “Dangers of Social Media” event and a “Justice Session” to discuss student online behavior. Yang integrates facts about how social media is addictive and detrimental to people’s mental health into the story and back matter. She helpfully shows readers a way to cut through social media’s downsides—by having honest conversations “brainstorming how to break the dopamine loop. How to not be played by the algorithm.”

Pubissue-From the March/April 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.