I really like pairing nonfiction and fiction. From a pedagogical standpoint, readers usually tend to gravitate toward one format or the other, and pairing the two together helps to strengthen reading interest all around. Those who devour fiction but get bored with nonfiction see its value more fully, and those who are more interested in nonfiction but get frustrated with fiction enter it with a more direct interest in mind.
One great nonfiction/fiction pair for teens is You Look Like a Thing and I Love You by Janelle Shane and Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith.
You Look Like a Thing and I Love You
So much of our discussion of AI is shrouded in mystery and a kind of awe-inspired reverence. Our minds tend to immediately go to the most elaborate AI scenarios: a robot doctor performing surgery, self-driven cars choosing whether to crash into a pedestrian or a concrete barrier, wars fought entirely with automated drones.
But Janelle Shane, who has a PhD in engineering, wants us to look at AI through a slightly different — and perhaps more immediately accurate — lens. AI is often quite silly.
Shane’s book You Look Like a Thing and I Love You gets its title from an AI’s attempt to craft the perfect pickup line. Shane’s book is full of examples like this, little ways that AI inserts itself into human life.
We are putting more and more trust into AI to make decisions for us. Everything from what songs show up as recommended on our music app to how much someone should pay in interest for a mortgage to where police should patrol is getting wrapped up in AI, and we’re programming human idiosyncrasies (and, unfortunately, biases and flawed thinking) right into these algorithms.
Shane attempts to take some of the mystery out of how AI works while simultaneously demonstrating how handling AI responsibly is going to require us to come to terms with what it means to be human first — for better and for worse.
Why I Think Teens Will Enjoy It
This book tackles a very complex topic in an incredibly accessible way. Shane’s book is illustrated with informative (and adorable) doodles, and the examples are relatable. Teen readers will leave this book feeling more informed about AI but also (hopefully) more concerned about just how we’re making choices regarding this technology’s use and what it means about humanity.
Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith
Andrew Smith is a well-known YA author who is perhaps best known for Grasshopper Jungle and his promise to “keep YA weird.”
Rabbit & Robot certainly delivers on the pledge. It follows the adventures of Cager Messer and Billy Hinman — the sixteen-year-old sons of two of the world’s greatest tech giants. Spoiled children who have avoided most contact with the world around them as it withers under a war-torn, tech-created nightmare, Billy tricks Cager into going on board the Tennessee, a massive pleasure cruise ship orbiting the moon.
Billy hopes the trip will put an end to his friend’s addiction to Woz, a drug used to keep the masses at bay. While they’re aboard, the world ends.
As the last humans left alive amid a ship filled with “cogs” — AI-infused robots designed to cater to humans every whim — what will they learn about what it means to be alive?
Warning: This book has lots (truly, a lot) of profanity and frank discussions of sexual arousal. There is also quite a bit of violence against robots. It’s probably best for more mature teens, but it’s message is meaningful and thought-provoking.
Why I Think Teens Will Enjoy It
This book is ridiculous. It’s very funny while also being incredibly thought-provoking. The writing is compelling, and the reader gets drawn into a completely unbelievable world in a way that makes it completely believable.
Pairing the Books
Either one of these books would be a worthwhile read on their own, but together, they really offer something interesting.
You Look Like a Thing is a real-life exploration of the AI we have right now. It may venture into speculative consideration now and then, but it’s primarily about our actual progress with algorithms and the machines we’ve programmed with them.
Rabbit & Robot asks us to determine what it is to be human in a way that has no easy answers. It also shows us a bleak future if we fail to do the work of figuring it out.
Paired, these books demonstrate the way that technology and the humanities work together. They bring questions about our collective responsibility to one another and the planet into sharp focus. And they do it all in a way that’s entertaining and accessible without being didactic.
Join the Book Clubs
I’m running live book clubs for the SEA Online Classes Teen Book Clubs from September 2021-May 2022. You Look Like a Thing and I Love You is the selection for September 2021. Rabbit & Robot is the selection for October 2021.
Join us for reading guides, a private Discord server for discussion, links to resources, final paper/project prompts, and a live discussion at the end of each month.