The End of Fun

by Sean McGinty

Overview

Everyday Reality is a Drag?.

FUN—the latest in augmented reality-is fun <YAY!> but it's also frustrating, glitchy, and dangerously addictive <BOO!>. Just when everyone else is getting on, 17-year-old Aaron O'Faolain wants off.

But first he has to complete his Application for Termination, and in order to do that he has to deal with his History-not to mention the present, including his grandfather's suicide and a series of clues that may (or may not) lead to buried treasure. As he attempts to unravel the mystery, Aaron is sidetracked again . . . and again. Shadowed by his virtual "best friend," Homie, Aaron struggles with love, loss, dog bites, community theater, wild horses, wildfires, and the fact (deep breath) that actual reality can sometimes surprise you.

Sean McGinty's strikingly profound debut unearths a world that is eerily familiar, yet utterly original. Discover what it means to come to the end of fun.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484767474
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/04/2016
Series:	An Enemy Novel , #7
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Sean McGinty is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He has worked as a newspaper reporter, farmer, and English instructor. He lives in Portland, Oregon, where he teaches reading and writing. The End of Fun is his debut novel.

Editorial Reviews

02/01/2016
Gr 9 Up—Seventeen-year-old Aaron has run away from home, is being wildly irresponsible, and does not want to have Fun® anymore. To opt out of Fun®, he has to complete his application for termination and tell his History. Fun® is an augmented reality tool—special lenses are implanted in users' eyes, and they can mind-talk and play games with other people who also have Fun®. The program can become expensive—if users don't play games or give Yays (think liking things on Facebook), they can lose credit and go into debt. As the book opens, Aaron is deep in debt and looking for a way out. McGinty gives just enough information to let readers discern the outlines of Aaron's world. The economy has crashed, there is an ongoing ecological crisis, and all the birds are dying. Although this is a troubling setting, McGinty is much more concerned with the themes of growing up, facing responsibilities, dealing with family ties, and enjoying the life in the present. The book feels long and repetitive at times, but it is mostly a quick read, and there is a sweetness to it that belies the main character's snarkiness. Aaron is impulsive and hopeful and fortunate in his family—they keep forgiving and loving him. The bits where Aaron interacts with Fun® are silly and will be familiar to anyone who has struggled with a computer program. VERDICT A solid additional purchase for larger collections.—Geri Diorio, Ridgefield Library, CT

School Library Journal

"Reminiscent of M. T. Anderson's Feed (2002)-with a touch of John Green's Paper Towns (2008)-this is wildly funny, bittersweet, and wholly original[.]"
— Booklist (starred review)

"...the richly imagined implications are disturbing enough to put readers off Candy Crush, if only for a little while."— BCCB

From the Publisher

2016-01-09
A teen realizes there's more to life than augmented reality. In Aaron O'Faolain's near-future world, birds are dying en masse, American currency is being phased out in favor of digital-only funds, and everyone wants to have FUN(R). Aaron ditches his boarding school and uses his tuition money to pursue a life of adventure, complete with a microchip and lenses for the Fully Ubiquitous Neuralnet. Once he starts having FUN(R), it mediates all of his experiences in ways that are both (predictably) fun and (equally predictably) intrusive. Aaron's realization that it's tiresome to be asked to rate everything from consumer products to fellow humans coincides with his trip home to reckon with his grandfather's suicide. Having inherited everything, he decides to seek the treasure that might be buried on the property so he can pay back his father and sister. He also pursues fairly typical teen activities such as romance, imbibing questionable substances, scrapping with his responsible older sister, and helping an elderly neighbor. Aaron's account is littered with trademarked names, and each chapter ends with "yay!" and "boo!" rating buttons—just a few of the amusing details it feels that McGinty couldn't bear to cut; the result is a book that starts strong but has trouble maintaining its pitch. Aaron is white, but his world is convincingly diverse. McGinty's debut is a bit of a shaggy dog story: frequently meandering and patience-trying but bighearted and generous, too. (Adventure. 14-16)

Kirkus Reviews