The Hive

Cassie McKinney enters senior year already grieving her father and trying to fit in at a new school. In a world where social media is tied to a legal system of likes, dislikes, and condemns, she believes in Hive justice until she makes an online joke that spreads far beyond what she expected.

The post turns Cassie from anonymous to infamous, and the Hive’s punishment escalates into a life-threatening manhunt. As she runs, she has to rely on herself and a small group of outcasts while trying to figure out who can be trusted and what is really powering the system.

The story follows Cassie’s attempts to survive the mob, stay ahead of the escalating consequences, and uncover the larger truth behind the Hive. Along the way, the narrative also tracks her strained family relationships, her new-school social pressures, and the political and technological forces shaping the system around her.