22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Richie's Picks: SO YESTERDAY, September 21, 2004
"The guy walking past was wearing a shirt five sizes too big (innovated by gangbangers to hide guns in their waistbands), shorts down below his knees (innovated by surfers to save their thighs from getting sunburned), and oversized shoes (innovated by skaters to save their feet from injury). Together all of these once-practical ideas made the guy look like he'd been hit by a shrink ray and was about to disappear into his clothes screaming, 'Help me!' in an ever-tinier voice."
Why did our ninth grader begin wearing pajama pants to school? Why, when she wears them, must the top of those pajama pants be folded over just so, to reveal the tag and the inside of the waistband? Why did Target start carrying rack after rack of pajama pants in dozens of patterns?
How about a couple of years ago, when all of the kids I knew began either buying peds or feeling compelled to fold their regular white socks down into their shoes so that no part was revealed to the public? Why did they begin to lace their shoes in a manner that caused the kids to fall out of them every fifth step (or to land on their faces if they actually tried running in them)?
Why, also a number of years back, did an army of girls begin wearing sweatshirts over only their arms?
It doesn't matter at which middle school I booktalk. Wherever I look, the kids will simultaneously begin making the same "fashion statement."
And does anybody really think that Britney, Madonna, Christina, or Beyonce themselves think up those looks that are eagerly copied by millions?
"One thing about being a Cool Hunter, you realize one simple fact: Everything has a beginning.
"Nothing always existed. Everything had an Innovator."
Hunter Braque is a Cool Hunter. Jen Jones is an Innovator. Their chance meeting in Manhattan's East River Park leads to a wild and intense three day roller coaster ride for the pair, and takes readers on a reality trip into the big stakes world of fashion fads and trends.
I'm no babe in the woods, myself. I'm a guy with a degree in Business, who once earned an "A" in Marketing as manager of the group that won that semester's computer-simulated car manufacturing competition. But I picked up all sorts of fascinating information while my eyes were glued to SO YESTERDAY. For instance, Hunter tells this story which actually ties in with those three days we follow Jen and him through New York City:
"Start with a mollusk, wind up with an empire.
"Sounds tricky, but the Phoenicians managed it about four thousand years ago. Their tiny sliver of a kingdom was wedged between the Mediterranean Sea and a vast desert: no gold mines, no olive trees, no amber waves of grain anywhere in sight. The only thing the Phoenicians had going for them was a certain species of shellfish, commonly found lying around down at the beach. These shellfish were tasty but had one problem--if you ate too many of them, your teeth turned purple.
"Naturally, most people were annoyed by this. They probably said stuff like, 'Those shellfish aren't bad, but who wants purple teeth?' and didn't think much more about it.
"Then one day an ancient Innovator got this crazy idea...
"Okay, imagine you live in Egypt or Greece or Persia back then and you're rich. You've got all the gold, olive oil, and grain you want. But all you ever get to wear is cloth robes that come in the following colors: light beige, medium beige, dark beige. You've seen the Bible movies: everyone's totally decked out in earth tones--that's all they had, that's all they could imagine having.
"Then one day along comes a boatload of Phoenicians, and they're selling purple cloth. Purple!
"Throw that beige wardrobe away!
"For a while purple is the thing, the biggest fad since that whole wheel craze. After a lifetime spent wearing sixteen shades of beige, everyone's lining up to buy the cool new cloth. The price is crazy high, partly due to demand and partly because it happens to take about 200,000 shellfish to make one ounce of dye, and pretty soon the Phoenicians are rolling in dough (actually they're rolling in gold, olive oil, and grain, but you get the picture).
"A trading empire is born. And talk about branding: Phoenicia is the ancient Greek word for 'purple.' You are what you sell.
"After a while, however, an interesting thing happens. The people in charge decide that purple is too cool for just anyone to wear. First they put taxes on purple cloth, then pass a law against the hoi polloi wearing purple (as if they could afford it), and finally make purple robes the sole property of kings and queens.
"Over the centuries this dress code becomes so widespread and so ingrained that even now, four thousand years later, the color purple is still associated with royalty throughout Europe. And all this because an Innovator who lived forty centuries ago figured he could make something cool out of the purple-teeth problem."
I've been a major fan and advocate of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LARRY and FEED, two outstanding books that include themes of American consumer compulsion and overindulgence. SO YESTERDAY is one heck of a companion to both of these titles. Through Hunter and Jen's harrowing adventures amid abandoned buildings, fancy parties, electronic spy networks, and high tech double-crosses, readers will surely look in the mirror and wonder who is responsible for this week's "New Look."
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Original and hip, October 22, 2004
Seventeen-year-old Hunter is aptly named. He's actually a "cool hunter" --- a Trendsetter whose job is to find "the latest thing" and make it a must-have for everyone. He meets Jen, a true Innovator (defined as the first person to do something totally new) when she dazzles him with her stylishly tied shoelaces. Hunter takes Jen to a focus group to watch a shoe commercial, where she gives such startlingly insightful comments that Hunter's boss, Mandy, asks them both to meet her in Chinatown to consult on a big deal.
Mandy doesn't meet Hunter and Jen, although they can hear her phone ringing ominously inside an abandoned building. The two make like action heroes (but bungling believably and humorously) to get into the building. Inside it's dark, but using the light from Hunter's cell phone, they find Mandy's phone, the most amazing shoes ever made --- and a frightening bald man who chases them. During their escape, Hunter loses his own phone.
So what's become of Mandy? The last picture taken on her phone is dark and blurry, and potentially horrible. Luckily Hunter's friend is a special effects computer expert. As they're deciphering the photo, Mandy's phone rings...and it's the sinister guy who chased them earlier. He has Hunter's phone and he may be a killer. How long will it be before he tracks down Hunter?
The action nabs readers instantly and tumbles them along. Hunter's biting and hysterical cultural insights invite serious contemplation (you may never look at a magazine or a logo the same way!) Characters are quirky and believable --- you have to love a main character who calls the public library's reference desk to learn how to tie a bow tie and can also discourse entertainingly on the history of the necktie. Add into the mix a bit of romance that manages to be simultaneously subtle and steamy.
In this story, if a trend is astoundingly original and hip, cool hunters give it the Nod. SO YESTERDAY is sooooo Nod-worthy.
--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Read this book today!, November 30, 2006
Hunter Braque, 17, is a Trendsetter, spotting out new trends in the hip NYC scene for various retail companies. Jen is his crush, whom he spotted as an "Innovator", one who starts trends. They're both part of a bigger pyramid known as the "cool pyramid".
One day a string of events is set off when Hunter's boss goes missing, leaving only her cell phone behind in an abandoned building. When Hunter and Jen go investigate, they find a mysterious load of the coolest shoes they've ever seen. Yet where did the shoes come from? Soon Hunter and Jen find themselves at a launch party sponsored by a secretive group of people known as Jammers who are dedicated to marketing confusion for the downfall of consumerism. As Hunter and Jen become more and more involved, they realize they have been caught in the middle--between the giant retail corporations and the small, but equally powerful Jammers.
So Yesteray is an intriguing novel that really caught my attention. Recommended to anyone who wants a cool and original read.
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