Book #128: Cybershock by David Lambert

 

Cybershock

David Lambert

 Released: December 1st, 1996

My 58th book for 2025 was David Lambert’s Cybershock.  

When I was in 2nd grade, I got the Scholastic Book Club.  We used to get those comic-sized order books that showcased all the new books for sale per our reading level.

I saw Cybershock, and was intrigued by the cover.  I never read a read chapter book before.  When I got it, I was disappointed to find that the book didn’t have more pictures like the cover.  My mom’s response was “Well, this is the book you chose so you’re gonna have to deal with it.”

It wired well, because I read this book and fell in love with it.  I’ve read it numerous times over the year, and am on my 2nd copy.  I lost my first one years ago, and back in 2022, I ordered a replacement copy.

Jed is a sixth grade student who enjoys computers. One day while adding memory chips, he gets shocked and develops the ability to access his computer from his mind.  His friends in the fund-raising club discover someone is stealing money from the homeless fund.  Jed, Myra, and Alan must track down the culprit and help bring them to justice.

I always remember the scene where Jed’s friend Alan types out letters and he calls them out as he does them to show him of his new ability.

I also remember GI Bill’s help via the Byteline chat room.  That’s something that dates this book.  When chat rooms reigns supreme.  I never really used chat rooms all that much, as my generation was more the messenger era, but it was a huge thing for Gen X’ers who grew up in the mid-late 1990’s.  Dial-up modems.  Ancient hardware by today’s standards.  It’s also wild to think of a man talking to elementary school students in a chat room, but it works safely for this story.

I always loved the end chase scenes as Jed’s maps out their whereabouts to Alan via the computer access in his mind.  I always remember that when I remember this book, sort of a precursor to Google Maps.

This book will forever hold strong memories for me.  It’s the first book I truly read that was not a young child’s book.  It helped me advance and grow my reading skills, and taught the a book’s ability to tell an effective story that is exciting in narratives and lasts forever in the memory of one’s mind.  Just like a computer.  Hmm…fancy that.

Here is what I learned:

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• With love to Anna and Bet, the brightest lights in Lincoln, Nebraska.

• SIMMs are memory chips.

• Jed Vandeelaan is a 6th grade student.

• Jed’s parents bought him a computer while he bought the SIMMs.

• Jed struggles with math.

• Mr. Sloan was Jed’s 5th grade teacher.

• Byteline is a subscription service that features sports scores, and encyclopedia, and all kinds of games and stuff.

• Byteline has discussion rooms which are essentially chat rooms.

• Jed receives a large shock from his computer.

• Even when unplugged, the anode at the base of the cathode-ray tube retains a charge of several thousand volts.

• Jed’s mind can see his computer screen as a result of the shocked where others cannot.

• Jed is a Nebraska Cornhuskers fan and has a poster for them on his wall.

• Eggnog is Jed’s mom’s cure for everything.

• Jed plans to cheat on his math test.

• Mrs. Wright is Jed’s math teacher.

• 23/82 = 0.2805.

• Jed is the soccer captain in gym class.

• The story takes place in February.

• Mr. Sloan has new riddles every day.

• The test is Jed’s first A of sixth grade.

• Todd Jackson hangs out with Eric Swanson and Tony Palmiero.

• Todd is Mr. Popularity.

• Jed attends Livermore.

• Every student at Livermore is expect to be in some sort of committee.

• Jed and Alan Ward are on the fund-raising committee with Myra Steinmetz.

• Mr. Sloan oversees the fund-raising committee.

• Myra is Miss Competition.

• Mr. Sloan is a computer whiz.

• He got Jed and Alan into computers the prior year.

• Mr. Halston is the principal.

• Mr. Garfield is a computer technician.

• Myra is from Chicago.

• “So you were cheating.”

• Myra is the screen name MoreSmart.

• Kids can only use the modem during morning hours.

• Jed, Myra, and Alan hang out at Antelope Park.

• The number for the school’s computer system is 555-6854.

• Myra has a softer side.

• Mr. Halston’s login is User: RJH Pwd: tiger.

• The Townline grocery receipts are $127.42.

• Someone stole $3,000 from the fundraising club.

• It snows 6 inches.

• Myra has a sled.

• Someone set the school on fire.

• Tony Palmiero’s dad volunteers for the fire department.

• “Even if you hate school, it’s still your school, ya know?”

• The Livermore school has a basement.

• Mr. Garfield smokes cigarettes.

• Mr. Halston is at a principal’s conference in Seattle.

• Jed’s screen name is Jedediah.

• Alan’s screen name is Waterboy.

• GIBill is a guy who lived in Grand Island.

• Alan’s phone number is 555-4036.

• Jed’s message to GIBILL: “Emergency, emergency.  GIBill, call Alan Ward at in Lincoln at 555-4036.  Tell him to call into this room.  HURRY.”

• Jed’s message to Waterboy: “Alan, it’s Jed.  Quick, call 911.  Garfield locked me and Myra in the school basement.  He’s the thief.  Don’t ask questions.”

• Alan’s parents installed a second phone line.

• Mr. Garfield drives a black van.

• The van’s license plate is HGR 463.

• Mr. Garfield keeps a gun in his van.

• There are 27 schools in the school district.

• Mr. Garfield kidnaps Jed and Myra after locking them in the Livermore school basement.

• Pioneer Park is a huge park in the middle of nowhere.

• Mr. Garfield’s demands for sparring Myra’s life are a new four-wheel drive car, a bag of food, and $10,000 in small bills, within half an hour.

• Mr. Sloan admits to stealing the money because his insurance will only cover half his wife’s surgery.

• It’s funny how much things change in a few days.

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Overall, there is no realm that I will ever not recommend this book.  I am completely biased due to my special connection to it, but objectively, it is a good book, with a solid story.  I could easily see this be a made-for-TV movie back in the day.

Highest Recommendation.

On to Book #129: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective by Narc Cerasini.

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Need to catch up?  See previous blog post: Star Trek Into Darkness.