Westerfeld, Scott. So yesterday.

WESTERFELD, Scott. So yesterday. Penguin, Razorbill. 246p. c2004. 1-59514-000-X. $16.99. JS

Cool is cool, and what's cool today is tomorrow's old news. But who decides what's cool? Marketing executives? Big name celebrities? Or is cool created one unique shoelace tie at a time by Innovators who live outside the box? Just ask Hunter. He's a Trendsetter whose job is to determine "cool" and send it on down the line. through the Early Adopters, the Consumers, and finally the Laggards. Best of all, he gets paid for it as a "cool hunter" who works for "the client," a big-name company that specializes in athletic wear through Mandy, their marketing agent. Things get a little complicated when he discovers Jen, a true Innovator, and brings her to a "cool tasting" with the other Trendsetters. They stumble into a plot to bootleg the perfect shoe just when Mandy turns up missing, with only her cell phone left behind. Hunter and Jen set off to find Mandy, expose the bootleggers, and track down rogue cool hunters who are underground and working against the client and all things cool.

So Yesterday is so today. Westerfeld has encapsulated today's cool in a fast-paced, fun novel that's not afraid to poke fun at our own consumerism while at the same time recognizing that cool rules.

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

Michele Winship, Asst. Prof., Capital Univ., Columbus, OH