iBoy (review)

Challenging British author Brooks returns with a story of a sixteen-year-old teen in London, who suddenly finds himself with incredible powers after being hit with a phone. It turns out that key pieces of the iPhone have become embedded in his brain, and Tom is suddenly able to send emails, access police records, and force others to do what he wants—all by simply using his own newly enhanced brain. It's best to just set the science aside immediately and go with the premise, and Tom is so vulnerable and well-intentioned that it's fairly easy to do so. Readers will likely be as passionate as he is about cleaning up his rough neighborhood, punishing the individuals who raped his crush and longtime friend, Lucy (and who would otherwise probably go free because of the dangers presented to anyone who cooperates with the police), and using his new powers for good. The fact that Tom isn't always successful in harnessing and interpreting his new abilities is to be expected, as is the fact that his emotions outpace his common sense most of the time; however, these deficits make Tom appealingly imperfect. In the end, Lucy and Tom survive, the world is slightly better but not fixed, and a whole bunch of unresolved questions remain about who Tom is, who he can be, and whether we are made of our best selves, our worst fears, or some combination. Brooks also treated the machine/human composite topic in Being (BCCB 2/07), but this is a more contemporarily resonant approach: Tom is part of a normal, complex, and satisfyingly built world, even with the technology piece added, which means this novel comfortably straddles both sci-fi and realistic fiction territory, thus broadening potential appeal.