The main message of the book seems to be about the dangers of the internet and peer pressure. Nevertheless, I found myself racing through the book, eager to read how the different tasks fit together and who might be behind it all. From Ethan, the video gamer who cannot differentiate between violence on the screen and violence in real life, to Gina, vindictive mean girl obsessed with being popular, I was offended as a former-high schooler (however long ago that may have been) to read through their shallow characterizations.

Every side character was a flat caricature, like the stereotypes created by someone with only vague memories of her own high school days and little awareness that high schoolers are actually complex, full-fledged human beings. While the premise of the book is very intriguing, the execution of it could have been better. Thus, while she can’t resist asking the site for a new kidney for her brother (just in case it actually works), she doesn’t ask it for the simple material trinkets most of her schoolmates do, and she begins to question the required tasks when no one else does. Kaylee had to grow up fast when she learned of her little brother’s condition and when her father walked out on her family shortly afterwards. A wish.” Kaylee’s brother has a life-threatening medical condition and if he cannot find a match for a kidney transplant soon, he may die.

Something very important that you cannot live without,” and a “want,” defined as “a desire to possess or do something. Perhaps that’s because, unlike most of her peers, Kaylee truly understands the difference between a “need,” defined by the site as “something required because it is essential. Kaylee Dunham is one of the only kids at Nottawa High School not impressed by the mysterious new social media site called NEED that has begun to sweep through their student population. That is the premise of Joelle Charbonneau’s novel NEED. Only the mastermind behind the site knows how the seemingly harmless tasks interconnect to lead to the deaths of multiple townspeople. All you need to do is perform one little task. Imagine a website that can provide you with anything you want: a new phone, that latest gadget, an extra week of vacation.

NEED takes that danger to a whole new level. All of us living in this internet age know about the dangers of online anonymity: cyber bullying, online harassment, catfishing, etc.

Need joelle