For a teen grappling with self-consciousness and social media pressures, this book explores finding your authentic self amidst the quest to be seen as 'interesting.'
A parent might reach for this book when their teen seems overly concerned with their online image or expresses a painful feeling of being "boring" or invisible. The story follows Bree, a teenage girl who creates a manifesto and a blog to reinvent herself as an 'interesting' person, navigating the pitfalls of curating a persona. It thoughtfully explores themes of authenticity, social anxiety, and the pressure to perform in the digital age. Best for older teens (14+), this book is a humorous yet insightful tool for opening conversations about self-worth beyond social media metrics.
The book directly addresses mental health, specifically social anxiety, panic attacks, and feelings of worthlessness. The approach is secular, direct, and realistic. It also touches on body image pressures and the negative side of social media. The resolution is hopeful and focuses on self-acceptance, acknowledging that the journey is ongoing rather than providing a perfect, simple solution.
Ideal Reader
A teen, aged 14 to 17, who is highly self-conscious, feels invisible at school, and constantly compares themselves to others, particularly on social media. This is for the reader who worries they are "boring" and feels immense pressure to perform or create a specific persona to be liked.
Parent Prep
The book contains scenes with underage drinking at a party, romantic situations including kissing and conversations about sex (though nothing explicit), and some swearing. A parent might want to be prepared to discuss these topics. The book can be read cold, but it provides an excellent springboard for conversations about mental health and the difference between an online persona and a real life. A parent overhears their teen saying, "Nobody even notices me," "I'm so boring," or "I wish my life was more like [person on social media]'s." The parent may observe their child obsessively curating their online posts or expressing intense anxiety about social events.
Age Experience
A younger teen (14-15) might focus on the humor, the romance, and the relatable desire to fit in, seeing Bree's manifesto as a fun plot device. An older teen (16-18) will likely grasp the deeper satire of online culture and the psychological complexity of Bree's anxiety, appreciating the nuanced critique of personal branding and the search for authentic connection.
What Makes It Special
Among many YA books about identity, this one stands out for its direct and humorous engagement with the specific phenomenon of blogging and personal branding culture of the 2010s. The manifesto format provides a clear, funny, and highly accessible structure for the protagonist's flawed journey toward self-acceptance, making complex psychological themes feel immediate and relatable.
Read plot summary
Bree, a self-proclaimed "wallpaper" teen, feels invisible and is desperate to be interesting. After a humiliating party experience, she creates "The Manifesto on How to be Interesting," a checklist for a life transformation that she documents on a blog. As she follows her rules (e.g., have a cause, have a tragic backstory), her blog's popularity explodes. She attracts new friends and a potential boyfriend but finds herself alienated from her true self and her long-time best friend, struggling to reconcile her curated online persona with her authentic identity.
This overview was generated by AI based on the book's content and reviews, and may not capture every nuance.
Discussion Prompts
1
Bree creates her 'Manifesto on How to be Interesting' with specific rules. Which rule did you find the most relatable or the most ridiculous? Do you think having a list like this is helpful or harmful in real life?
2
Bree's blog persona becomes very popular, but it's not the 'real' her. In what specific ways is the Bree on the blog different from the Bree we see with her family or her best friend Holdy?
3
Holdy gets frustrated with Bree as she becomes more focused on her manifesto. Do you think Holdy was a good friend to Bree during this time? How could Bree have been a better friend to Holdy?
4
At the end, Bree starts to realize that being 'interesting' isn't as important as being authentic. What do you think it means to be 'authentic'? What small moments in the book showed the real, authentic Bree?
