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So Yesterday
Ever wonder who was the first kid to keep a wallet on a big chunky chain, or wear way-too-big pants on purpose? What about the mythical first guy who wore his baseball cap backwards? These are the Innovators, the people on the very cusp of cool. Seventeen-year-old Hunter Braque's job is finding them for the retail market. But when a big-money client disappears, Hunter must...more
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
September 9th 2004
by Razorbill
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I enjoyed Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series so I was curious to see how I'd like one of his books that was set in the real world. I thought he did a great job with the characters of Hunters and Jen. They were unique, likable, and memorable. I also loved the historical facts that Westerfeld put in the story.
And like the Uglies series, So Yesterday makes you think about how things work in our society--specifically, how we decide what is cool and what isn't. It seems like such a silly topic, but as...more
And like the Uglies series, So Yesterday makes you think about how things work in our society--specifically, how we decide what is cool and what isn't. It seems like such a silly topic, but as...more
This is my favorite book of all time. Seventeen year old Hunter Braque works for a company in New York that specializes in 'cool tasting'. They watch advertisements for shoe companies and decide if it's cool or not.
He meets a girl named Jen, an Innovator (explained in the book), and she has some pretty cool lace designs on her shoes. He brings her to the tasting, and she speaks up on the commercial.
His boss, Mandy, and everyone else liked what she said. Mandy calls Hunter to schedule a meeting i...more
He meets a girl named Jen, an Innovator (explained in the book), and she has some pretty cool lace designs on her shoes. He brings her to the tasting, and she speaks up on the commercial.
His boss, Mandy, and everyone else liked what she said. Mandy calls Hunter to schedule a meeting i...more
Nov 08, 2010
Jennifer
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2008,
young-adult
This is one of Westerfeld's earlier YA novels. That shows in the writing. So Yesterday lacks the fast pace, engaging characters and tight plot typical of the author's later YA books.
The too aptly named Hunter is a self-professed "cool hunter" - someone who seeks out the latest trends before they're trends. Hunter is employed by large corporations to pass on his finds and take part in focus groups so that those expensive marketing campaigns that keep the mega-corporations afloat don't fizzle. Hu...more
The too aptly named Hunter is a self-professed "cool hunter" - someone who seeks out the latest trends before they're trends. Hunter is employed by large corporations to pass on his finds and take part in focus groups so that those expensive marketing campaigns that keep the mega-corporations afloat don't fizzle. Hu...more
Let's talk about the cool pyramid.
At the zenith, we have the Innovators. These are the first ones to do something new - rock a backwards baseball cap, get two piercings in one ear, wear boots on the outside of their pants. "When you meet them, most Innovators don't look that cool, not in the sense of fashionable, anyway. There's always something off about them. Like they're uncomfortable with the world."
At the next level reside the Trendsetters. They are the second in line to follow a new trend....more
At the zenith, we have the Innovators. These are the first ones to do something new - rock a backwards baseball cap, get two piercings in one ear, wear boots on the outside of their pants. "When you meet them, most Innovators don't look that cool, not in the sense of fashionable, anyway. There's always something off about them. Like they're uncomfortable with the world."
At the next level reside the Trendsetters. They are the second in line to follow a new trend....more
Update: After a rereading and think of this novel non-stop I've change it from a 4 star to a 5 star. Yep, that happened! ;)
I loved this novel!!! Witty, fast-paced, and unique it had me hooked the whole time, I just couldn't put it down, nor could I figure it out.
Seventeen year old Hunter is a Trendsetter a person who looks for Innovators and their latest new-to-the-world never-been-done-before fashions. He meets Jen (an Innovator & Logo Exile ) and finds himself compelled to invite her to a...more
I loved this novel!!! Witty, fast-paced, and unique it had me hooked the whole time, I just couldn't put it down, nor could I figure it out.
Seventeen year old Hunter is a Trendsetter a person who looks for Innovators and their latest new-to-the-world never-been-done-before fashions. He meets Jen (an Innovator & Logo Exile ) and finds himself compelled to invite her to a...more
This may be my favorite Scott Westerfeld book. I enjoyed Uglies, Pretties, etc. but lost interest in the series about half way through. I really liked Westerfeld's unique take on vampires in Peeps. But this. This is Westerfeld taking on Culture Jammers, Fad, Fashion, Trends, Conformity, and Modern Consumerism. It's an romance/mystery/social commentary/adventure set on the streets of Manhattan, following one weekend in the life of a "cool-hunter" - a teen who earns money spotting new "cool stuff"...more
Aug 27, 2008
Jackie "the Librarian"
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mysteries,
youngadult
My first thought on reading this was: this is a novelization of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, with cool teen characters, and an over-the-top mystery involving super cool shoes and purple-dye sabotage!
Hunter is on the hunt for coolness and innovations, so when he sees Jen, with her skater style and her shoelaces woven in a way he's never seen before, he knows he's got an Innovator in his sites.
Hunter works for an agency that advises advertisers and companies on trends, recognizing them,...more
Hunter is on the hunt for coolness and innovations, so when he sees Jen, with her skater style and her shoelaces woven in a way he's never seen before, he knows he's got an Innovator in his sites.
Hunter works for an agency that advises advertisers and companies on trends, recognizing them,...more
Huh. This book has almost exactly the same plot as PopCo, which is odd, because I didn’t pick up either book because I was interested in the subject—secret societies banding together to sabotage large corporations and dilute the evil brainwashing of marketing campaigns—I was curious about the authors. Anyway, So Yesterday focuses on teenagers in New York as opposed to twentysomethings in England, and it’s about shoes (specifically Nike, although it’s always referred to as ‘The Client’) rather...more
Summary: 17-year-old Hunter Braque is a cool hunter who gets the find of his life when he meets a trend-setter named Jen. But then Hunter’s boss disappears, and the world of hunting cool doesn’t seem quite so cool anymore.
Review: This book reminded me a lot of Feed, which is an all-time YA favorite of mine. I prefer Feed—it explores these consumerist culture themes at their outer limits. But this book was still a great read.
The blend of internal and external conflict made for a rich story. And I...more
Review: This book reminded me a lot of Feed, which is an all-time YA favorite of mine. I prefer Feed—it explores these consumerist culture themes at their outer limits. But this book was still a great read.
The blend of internal and external conflict made for a rich story. And I...more
Why did it have to be about shoes? Really, the whole shoe thing is just not one I ever understood (not that I understand much about trends and fashion). But this is a great book that creates an interesting (and probably fairly accurate) scenario about how trends get started, how they spread, and why they seem to come and go so quickly.
But what if there's a group that's trying to undo the work of all the marketers and trendsetters (these would clearly be my people)? Are they the anti-cool? What i...more
But what if there's a group that's trying to undo the work of all the marketers and trendsetters (these would clearly be my people)? Are they the anti-cool? What i...more
Originally posted at Paperback Princess to view in it's entirety pls click here
Synopsis:- Hunter is a "cool hunter" he seeks for all things "cool". He meets Jen who is an Innovator, those that come up with the cool ideas all by themselves, she has invented her own shoe laces which are the coolest shoe laces Hunter has ever seen. Hunter invites Jen to his workplace and Jen contributes to the discussion. Hunter's boss, Mandy ends up inviting Hunter and Jen to a job and upon arrival at the meeting...more
Synopsis:- Hunter is a "cool hunter" he seeks for all things "cool". He meets Jen who is an Innovator, those that come up with the cool ideas all by themselves, she has invented her own shoe laces which are the coolest shoe laces Hunter has ever seen. Hunter invites Jen to his workplace and Jen contributes to the discussion. Hunter's boss, Mandy ends up inviting Hunter and Jen to a job and upon arrival at the meeting...more
Oct 16, 2012
Dlora
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
young-adult,
adventure-action
I wasn't ever was one of those cool, with-it kids (and I'm still not with-it) but I enjoyed this social commentary on the phenomenon of making/discovering cutting edge fashion. Our narrator is Hunter, a high school kid who learned to survive in New York City by being a cool hunter, someone who watches for the wave of future fashion, records it, and sells it to marketing groups. Hunter has marvelous parents that he likes, even if they are behind the times, and he has the most interesting details...more
Tilasin kirjastollemme Westerfeldin the Uglies -sarjan ja ajattelin ennen sen hyllyyn tuloa lukaista alkupalaksi Westerfeldin suomennetun teoksen Niin eilistä. Kirja kertoo 17-vuotiaan Hunter Braquen eräästä viikonlopusta, jolloin hän tapaa innovaattori-Jenin ja koittaa leikkiä salapoliisia löytääkseen kadonneen trendietsijäpomonsa Mandyn. Hunter kuuluu joukkoon nuoria, jotka etsivät turuilta ja toreilta jännittäviä juttuja, joista voisi tulla trendejä. Näiden trendien eteen jotkut ovat valmiita...more
An old author, and a new genre can have very surprising results. Scott Westerfeld put another wonderful book into my hands. So Yesterday isn't the usual Westerfeld book with a sci-fi plot, but the about the life of trendsetting Hunter. The plot isn't anything special, yet the beautiful writing style makes the story more exciting. So Yesterday has all the parts that I consider to be in a good book.
A teenager, named Hunter, has the best job. He is paid to give his opinion about products. One day,...more
A teenager, named Hunter, has the best job. He is paid to give his opinion about products. One day,...more
I listened to this on audiobook, and I'll rate that the reader was decent. Nothing bad but nothing truly exciting either. Made me wish books words made into radio serials with multiple actors.
The book itself was decent. It was funny in most places. And had the sarcasm and jeering that a teen would have. I didn't expect it to be a mystery (I admit I chose it without knowing what it was about, but simply because it was an audiobook and was easily available to borrow) so that was interesting. Teen...more
The book itself was decent. It was funny in most places. And had the sarcasm and jeering that a teen would have. I didn't expect it to be a mystery (I admit I chose it without knowing what it was about, but simply because it was an audiobook and was easily available to borrow) so that was interesting. Teen...more
Scott Westerfeld is one of my all-time favorite authors. However, this was not one of my all-time favorite books.
I love the idea of the story, and the setting. I love all the cool gadgets and the idea of 'coolness' and how it shows the world as very superficial.
I thought that the whole book overall was a little lacking.
It was too confusing. I like to be confused in a book, but I want the confusion to end at some point, so everything is resolved well. I feel like So Yesterday did NOT do this at a...more
I love the idea of the story, and the setting. I love all the cool gadgets and the idea of 'coolness' and how it shows the world as very superficial.
I thought that the whole book overall was a little lacking.
It was too confusing. I like to be confused in a book, but I want the confusion to end at some point, so everything is resolved well. I feel like So Yesterday did NOT do this at a...more
May 08, 2012
Montana Fung
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everyone
Ever wonder where you lie on the hierarchical pyramid of “cool”? In Scott Westerfield’s So Yesterday, he introduces a system to us, the readers, that most people are aware of, but not exactly understood. At the top of the pyramid, there are Innovators who create the “cool”, something new. From there, the ride starts. Immediately below the Innovators are the Trendsetters or “cool” hunters who are basically the second people after the Innovators to discover whatever the Innovators have made and th...more
Hunter is a “cool-hunter” (appropriate pun on the author’s part), someone whose job is to search for potential trends and then make them all the rage. His adventure starts when he encounters Jen, an Innovator (initiator of trends) with trend-worthy shoelaces.
I was wary of checking this book out of the library; I have read Pretties by Westerfeld and hated every page of it. I checked it out, only because the librarian mentioned it was about marketing and how it works inside. That side of the no...more
I was wary of checking this book out of the library; I have read Pretties by Westerfeld and hated every page of it. I checked it out, only because the librarian mentioned it was about marketing and how it works inside. That side of the no...more
This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was ok. This book was...more
I really liked Westerfeld's take on "cool" in this book--how there is a "cool hierarchy" and how we get to explore that throughout the book as we follow the characters on their adventures and how it's something that really could exist without most of us being aware. I thought that was really innovative and interesting. I actually really liked the book and the character journey, but I was disappointed by the ending. It was sort of leading up to an Atlas Shrugged sort of story, which I was enjoyin...more
Reading like the current work of William Gibson, but for a young adult audience, Westerfeld creates a cast that is slightly eclectic but ultra-hip. The book starts with the main character being smitten by a girl his age as he is going about his job of spotting the next trend. Like most guys that want to impress the girl he just met, he chooses to include her in a high level focus group in an attemt to show off what he does. After making an impression, she is asked along the next day to have a lo...more
So Scott Westerfeld is usually kind of hit-or-miss with me (I adored Leviathan to bits and pieces, but couldn't get past the first books in either his Midnighters or Uglies series), but So Yesterday was definitely a hit in my book. The narrator starts off a bit ambiguous at first, since it's first person, but you soon learn the main character is a boy named Hunter, about 17 years old, who has long face-veiling bangs and a chip on his shoulder from the time years back when he moved from middle-of...more
Somehow Scott Westerfeld always gets me right where I live. I think that it has a lot to do with his "Uglies" series. They are these great young adult lit dystopians and once I trust an author they have a great fan in me :) This book has a slightly different premise. It takes you into the life of one of the "Cool hunters." He is a boy who gets paid for his opinions on everything cool and it talks about his power and influence in the backstage workings of the world of marketing. He meets a girl w...more
This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This book was OK.This bo...more
Dec 10, 2010
Arlene
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-2010,
young-adult
Oh sweet painful hell! I give up on this book. So Yesterday is my first novel by Scott Westerfeld, and I heard such great things about him. But if the best he can do is slap me in the face with constant simple sentences and a mildly creative concept wrapped around a lackluster plot, no thanks.
It started off somewhat okay, the concept was as I said creative, but that’s where it ends. The main character Hunter Braque, a trendsetter, comes across dumber than dirt and this girl Jen James, an innovat...more
It started off somewhat okay, the concept was as I said creative, but that’s where it ends. The main character Hunter Braque, a trendsetter, comes across dumber than dirt and this girl Jen James, an innovat...more
In a world where "cool" means everything and fashion and outward appearance was all you needed to know about a person, is the world of Hunter Barque a 17-year-old cool hunter. This world is very similar to some people especially teenagers. Hunter Barque's job is to find what is considered cool by the best innovators. He does this for his clients so they can come up with the best products. While cool hunting he finds one of the most unique innovators yet, Jen. As they both become quick friends an...more
This is my first Westerfeld novel and I know that a lot of people love his books, particularly The Uglies. I generally liked So Yesterday> but there are a few general things that don't work well. This piece is going to feel very dated very quickly. Cell phones that take pictures! Holy cow, that's cutting edge. Westerfeld, does, however, do an excellent job of explaining the history of clothing, Japanese anime, and shoes.
The pacing was fast, the romantic interests were sweet, and the novel di...more
The pacing was fast, the romantic interests were sweet, and the novel di...more
From Destiny Library record, "Hunter Braque, a New York City teenager who is paid by corporations to spot what is 'cool,' combines his analytical skills with girlfriend Jen's creative talents to find a missing person and thwart a conspiracy directed at the heart of consumer culture."
Scott Westerfeld is a very clever author. Here he is making a strong statement about teenage consumerism in a very entertaining book. Although this isn't one of my favorite books by him, anything he writes is worth r...more
Scott Westerfeld is a very clever author. Here he is making a strong statement about teenage consumerism in a very entertaining book. Although this isn't one of my favorite books by him, anything he writes is worth r...more
May 02, 2009
April Helms
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
young-adult
Had actually checked this out in anticipation of having a doodle/chat session with my best friend, but she was busy last weekend and I was busy this weekend. Got this on CD. OK, still love the Uglies books, but Westerfeld's fans who have not read this one will not be disappointed. This is a lot lighter, more fun, although there are still some pointed digs at commercialism. The story centers on Hunter, a Trendsetter paid to find and observe what is in and what is out in the world of conspicuous c...more
I like to think that I don't care about being cool anymore; in fact I consider myself somewhat of a contrarian, maybe an anti-consumer consumer. I haven't really obsessed over the idea of being cool since junior high school, so this book really brought back a lot of memories of trying to have the latest, look the latest, and be the latest. I think because of that I find cool hunting utterly fascinating; to view the process that frustrated me and tormented me once from the outside. And that's wha...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Things: YA G...: Janaury 2013- So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld | 7 | 63 | Jan 19, 2013 05:09pm | |
| The Indie Exchang...: win a dress for free enter the link | 1 | 11 | Jan 07, 2013 06:16am | |
| What's The Name o...: Y.A Book: Boy trendsetter, kidnapped boss. [s] | 4 | 25 | Dec 13, 2012 09:21pm | |
| Glamorous Girl :: Fashion Inspiration | 1 | 10 | Dec 15, 2011 09:18pm |
Scott Westerfeld is a New York Times bestselling American-born author of YA sci-fi literature. He was born in the Texas and now lives in Sydney and New York City. In 2001, Westerfeld married fellow author Justine Larbalestier.
His book Evolution's Darling was a New York Times Notable Book, and won a Special Citation for the 2000 Philip K. Dick Award. So Yesterday won a Victorian Premier's Award and...more
More about Scott Westerfeld...
His book Evolution's Darling was a New York Times Notable Book, and won a Special Citation for the 2000 Philip K. Dick Award. So Yesterday won a Victorian Premier's Award and...more
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“Sometimes the facts in my head get bored and decide to take a walk in my mouth. Frequently this is a bad thing.”
—
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“Never give us what we really want. Cut the dream into pieces and scatter them like ashes. Dole out the empty promises. Package our aspirations and sell them to us, cheaply made enough to fall apart.”
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