The Detected

By Olivia Renee Liu

Rules are made to be followed. But what happens when the rules start following you?

Alex Tran is "aggressively average"-the kind of student teachers smile at but can't quite remember. He has a perfect disciplinary record, zero detentions, and a streak of "doing nothing wrong" that has lasted since second grade.

That streak ends on a Tuesday when he is accused of a cafeteria food fight he wasn't even present for.

In the "Detention Dungeon" of Room C107, Alex meets four other overachievers who don't belong there: Savannah, a debate legend; Miles, a tech genius; Benji, a soft-spoken rule-follower; and Tessa, a silent artist who sees things others miss. They all share one thing in common: a yellow detention slip signed by the mysterious and elusive "D. Blake"-a name that doesn't exist on any school roster.

As the group digs into the school's digital shadows, they uncover Project Ember, a secret system that ranks students not by their grades, but by their "Likelihood of Compliance". In a world of blinking security cameras and "Pathways" protocols, the five friends realize they aren't just in trouble-they are being targeted for "corrective discipline".

At Eastview Middle School, being a "good kid" might just be the most dangerous thing you can be.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GPXZZCQW
• ISBN13: 9798249484811
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 94 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.5" x 8.5"