ersatzredhead

How was the TV crew--including but not limited to you and ihatewarfel--treated by the staff at ABC? Also what are some memorable crew/restaurant staff interactions?

My questions are for Mr. Doctorow. So far, I have read Little Brother and For the Win. I am in the middle of reading Homeland online-- the part where Marcus finds out about Zyz and the various techniques they use to earn money. I just want to say that I love your stance on making your work available to your fanbase for free online. I prefer browsing my school's library to the public library just for now but it only has Little Brother and For the Win out of all your works. I'm going to talk to my school's librarian in September about acquiring more of your work, because my friends and classmates are also eager to read more of your work as well as have the option to do work in English class based off your work. I should stop rambling now. So this is what I want to ask:

1. What/who inspired you to make your work available online?

2. Regarding the stuff that Marcus and his friends can do, with computers, in your books: What are some interesting and unique experiences that influenced or gave you background knowledge on something-- anything-- that has happened in your books to your characters?

3. I am a high-schooler and the system in place in Toronto-- let alone Ontario-- is quite scary to navigate these days. In the beginning of the 2012-13 school year I was told I have to be at least seventeen to apply to take a full, non-makeup, summer school credit course and then I just recently found out that they changed the requirement to at least 12 credits. This really pisses me off, since I am short four credits because of absence due to illness in the 9th grade and I could've applied to do a course this summer. Even though I'm a lazy student, I am always interested in what I learn at school. I just don't like doing the repetitive, fact-based, unimaginative work-- that some education professionals whom I have dealt with-- believe every student needs to do to absorb what's learned and how to apply it. The following question regards your experience with the TDSB. I recently found that you received your high school diploma through the SEED program. What was that experience like? What are some of your opinions on alternative credit-earning programs in the TDSB and their success/failure in preparing students for post-secondary education/the workplace/etc.?

4. I am not extremely familiar with your work with the EFF but I think you would have valuable insight on this next question. What are some of your thoughts on the NSA surveillance leaks? I would alsolike to know your thoughts on how this affects Canadians, because I read on VICE's Canadian site that "the NSA only need to be 51% sure, 'the lowest conceivable standard, ' that the suspicious individual they are targeting lives outside of the US" to carry out surveillance on Canadians.

5. I know these questions seem to not be properly ordered in relevance. Anyway, who are some authors and what are some books, which you would recommend to teenagers? I will accept non-fiction and fiction recommendations.

I am experiencing a "this book is so awesome" reader's high from Homeland at the moment, so you're off the hook.

Thanks

First of all, thank you for replying so thoroughly and your answers are very insightful. I'm slowly finding my way through the rest of your work which is enthralling. Thanks for the recommendations; I still harbor a love for children's books(I love reading Jon Klassen's stuff to my younger cousins). I'll be keeping an eye out for your future work. Thanks for doing this AMA as well.