Boys Will be Boys...: Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, Tor, 2008.

There is an explosion in San Francisco. The authorities use it as an excuse to crack down on this city of hippies and queers and other undesirables, and generally speaking, as too many American teens have discovered, just being young makes you undesirable.

There is a full review over at Strange Horizons. Doctorow's Little Brother ticks all my boxes: it's about building seemingly irrelevant skills, because one day they may be necessary, it's about tyranny and the kind of education you need to fight back, it's bouncy, irreverant and a demanding read. The politics are real and so are the technical details. It's a handbook for bringing down your government.

I hope it wins the Prometheus Award. I hope it wins the Andre Norton and the Golden Duck. I know I'll be nominating it for a Hugo next year.