Want to go Private?
Littman, Sarah Darer
ISBN-13 978-0545151467
ISBN-10 0545151465
Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2011
Genre: Realistic Fiction Drama
Reading Level: 750 Lexile
Interest Age: 14-17 years
Reader's Annotation:
Abby is feeling left out of high school life when she meets Luke. He is sweet, understands her and says he loves her. Only problem; he is online.
Plot Summary:
Abby and Faith have been friends since 7th grade. They do everything together. Faith is pretty and popular while Abby is a tomboy who has never liked to dress up or wear make up. As the two embark on the new journey of high school, they start to drift apart. The two chat with each other on a social networking site where everyone has an avatar. Abby starts talking to a boy avatar one day when Faith is not online. They strike up a friendship and then it turns to something more. Abby and the boy, Luke, begin a sexual relationship online. He makes her feels loved and listens to her. Abby decides she wants to meet him in person. She disappears one day and her family and friends become very worried. Running away is not all its cracked up to be and Luke is not who she thought. Will she ever get back home?
Critical Evaluation:
Littman developed a heart wrenching story of a girl who felt she did not belong. From the start, the reader knows that Abby is at risk for the internet predator she meets. The characterization was really well done. Many teens could relate to the fear of starting high school and that things are not the same as they were in middle school. Luke's character well well developed as well. He was very sweet to her and yet he had an edge to him that gave foreshadowing to the reader. This was well crafted and it showed that Littman did research to understand the psychology of a predator. The setting was one that could relate to many teenagers. There are many cities and towns like the one described in the book. The online setting is also very prevalent to today's society. There are many sites where people have avatars to create their persona. This creates an atmosphere that is easy to be whoever you want to be. This is an entertaining story, but filled with the sad reality of the internet.
About the Author:
Sarah Darer Littman is a woman who started writing later in life. She worked many other professions before writing and became a mother. She found her passion in her 40's and has written award winning novels. She has a political column on CTNewsJunkie.com where she shows her writing skills to an adult audience.
Littman has written four teen novels. Want to Go Private?, Life After, and Purge are all written to teen girls. She tries to relate to them in her writing to show them a piece of teen problems not always talked about. Confessions of a Closet Catholic was written for girls over 9 and has won different literary awards.
Curriculum Ties:
This book could be used to talk about internet safety. It could also be looked at for the breaking of a book into parts.
Abby and Faith have been friends since 7th grade. They do everything together. Faith is pretty and popular while Abby is a tomboy who has never liked to dress up or wear make up. As the two embark on the new journey of high school, they start to drift apart. The two chat with each other on a social networking site where everyone has an avatar. Abby starts talking to a boy avatar one day when Faith is not online. They strike up a friendship and then it turns to something more. Abby and the boy, Luke, begin a sexual relationship online. He makes her feels loved and listens to her. Abby decides she wants to meet him in person. She disappears one day and her family and friends become very worried. Running away is not all its cracked up to be and Luke is not who she thought. Will she ever get back home?
Critical Evaluation:
Littman developed a heart wrenching story of a girl who felt she did not belong. From the start, the reader knows that Abby is at risk for the internet predator she meets. The characterization was really well done. Many teens could relate to the fear of starting high school and that things are not the same as they were in middle school. Luke's character well well developed as well. He was very sweet to her and yet he had an edge to him that gave foreshadowing to the reader. This was well crafted and it showed that Littman did research to understand the psychology of a predator. The setting was one that could relate to many teenagers. There are many cities and towns like the one described in the book. The online setting is also very prevalent to today's society. There are many sites where people have avatars to create their persona. This creates an atmosphere that is easy to be whoever you want to be. This is an entertaining story, but filled with the sad reality of the internet.
About the Author:
Sarah Darer Littman is a woman who started writing later in life. She worked many other professions before writing and became a mother. She found her passion in her 40's and has written award winning novels. She has a political column on CTNewsJunkie.com where she shows her writing skills to an adult audience.
Littman has written four teen novels. Want to Go Private?, Life After, and Purge are all written to teen girls. She tries to relate to them in her writing to show them a piece of teen problems not always talked about. Confessions of a Closet Catholic was written for girls over 9 and has won different literary awards.
This book could be used to talk about internet safety. It could also be looked at for the breaking of a book into parts.
Book Talking:
Create a guide to internet safety.
Challenging Issues:
This book has some hard realities, but they are important for our society. If challenged, the policies would be reviewed and the reasoning explained.
Why Read this Book:
I included this book because it is not only an entertaining story, but it deals with a real issue. There are many teens who think this will not happen to them and this book explains it can happen to anyone. Predators come in all shapes and sizes. They groom the children before hurting. It is an important lesson to learn.
Create a guide to internet safety.
Challenging Issues:
This book has some hard realities, but they are important for our society. If challenged, the policies would be reviewed and the reasoning explained.
Why Read this Book:
I included this book because it is not only an entertaining story, but it deals with a real issue. There are many teens who think this will not happen to them and this book explains it can happen to anyone. Predators come in all shapes and sizes. They groom the children before hurting. It is an important lesson to learn.
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