@nervesofsteel

A sharp, award-winning young adult crossover drama perfect for fans of girls who fight back, #metoo justice, and investigative journalism.

Minerva, first ninth-grader on her school paper, is ready to be the next Christiane Amanpour. Always an outsider, and bullied by the popular girls, she’s finally got a chance to get some power back. But it’s 2013 and Twitter’s a Wild West full of misogynist trolls, bullies Minerva would love to see banned. The biggest troll of all? The hottest guy in school—Chaz, basketball phenom—and he’s doing a full-court press to get with Minerva’s best friend, Diana. And every girl on Diana’s cheer squad thinks it’s a match made in heaven.

Minerva hopes she can use her journalistic superpowers to keep Diana safe. If she can just tell the story of cheer squad and its hazing, maybe she can get Diana away from these folks… But Diana wants so badly to fit in, and the whole school seems all in with Chaz and his Hot or Not tournament. When Minerva investigates hazing allegations and tracks tweets to the scene of a kegger, she finds Diana is on the fast track to his despicable “Final Four”—a game of supposed celebrity but really, no consent.

Should @nervesofsteel fight back with reporting like the NYT or like TMZ? Expose the terrible harassment and bullying these boys do? Minerva’s not sure she’s got the nerve to do what it takes so #truthwillout. But every sign is showing that Minerva better risk everything to serve up some vigilante justice for a girl who’s feeling like a lot more than a friend.

A gripping novel that will resonate with young adults navigating today's digital landscape and adult readers looking back at the genesis of social media culture. The fiction companion to Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation.

Winner of First Place in the Middle Grade/Young Adult category, Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards.

© 2026 Independently Published (Lydbog): 9798234242341

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Lydbog: 23. september 2026