Saturday 31 March 2012

[REVIEW] Want to go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman

Published: August 2011
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Agee Group: Young Adult
Abby and Luke chat online. They've never met. But they are going to. Soon.Abby is starting high school--it should be exciting, so why doesn't she care? Everyone tells her to "make an effort," but why can't she just be herself? Abby quickly feels like she's losing a grip on her once-happy life. The only thing she cares about anymore is talking to Luke, a guy she met online, who understands. It feels dangerous and yet good to chat with Luke--he is her secret, and she's his. Then Luke asks her to meet him, and she does. But Luke isn't who he says he is. When Abby goes missing, everyone is left to put together the pieces. If they don't, they'll never see Abby again. (From Goodreads)

Want to go Private was a scary book, in my opinion, not because there were scary creatures or people getting killed.  It's the idea of this book that it could happen to you that makes it scary.

Littman writes this in a very relatable way.  I'm pretty sure there are time when you feel left out and alone.  Abby is a person who goes through this.  She turns to the internet and people on it for comfort, even though she hasn't met them before.  I'm pretty sure each of us is thinking that it's common sense for you to not trust someone online, especially someone you've never met but put yourself in Abby's shoes.  Think about what you would have done if you were her.  That's what I did and honestly, I feel that I might have done the same.  Of course Luke, the online predator, is obviously creepy but I guess Abby was so lonely that she ignored all the signs.  After she runs away, she starts to realize who Luke truly is.  The ending of this story was sort of a throw away in my opinon since it was really just reminding you of the moral of the story, which I thought was already blatently obvious.

The plot was developed very well and it's intersting to see how Abby acts with her friends after meeting Luke and slowly becoming [slightly?] addicted to him and the world of online conversations.

I think this book, although fictional (I hope) and for teens, is actually very educational.  The story it tells is like a life lesson and Littman wrties the story so masterfully that the way each character acts in their role can be related back to the real world and teach others how they should properly act in this situation.  Her characters all react the way I would think they would in real life.  There is no exagerration essentially.

I think this book was great but the only thing I didn't like about it was Abby's stupidity or denseness.  I know I said that if I were her, I would have did what she did but there were tons of signs throughout the story that should have raised an alarm in her head.  This book is slightly disturbing for younger readers so be warned when you do read this.  Anyway, back to what I was saying, some parts are just clearly wrong and when you encounter them, that should be a clear sign to stop talking them and tell the police that you might have been talking with an online predator.  Abby was even told in school and warned by her friend to take precautions and be careful of people you talk to online.  I guess she was too far off to really think clearly.

Anyway I would definitely recommand this to readers. Give this book a try, you might learn something!




4.5/5
MEH

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