Eve's Fan Garden

Title: Want to Go Private

Author: Sarah Darer Littman

Synopsis: (From Sarah Darer Littman’s website)

Abby and Luke chat online. They’ve never met. But they are going to. Soon.

When Abby meets Luke online, she can’t believe her luck. He’s nice. He’s funny. He listens to her and he thinks she’s pretty. He even gets jealous of other guys, which is adorable. Without Luke, Abby’s not sure how she’d make it through her first year of high school. Everyone, including her mom and her best friend, Faith, tells Abby that if she just made more of an effort, she’d be having fun instead of dreading each and every day as if it’s a prison sentence. But there’s nothing fun about being the lowest link in the social food chain.

Abby knows she’s not supposed to chat with random guys online. But Luke isn’t random, and he isn’t a stranger. Best of all, he really loves her. So what if she never goes out with her friends anymore and her grades are slipping? All she needs is Luke. Luke is her secret, and she’s his — it’s perfect that way. So when Luke suggests that they meet each other in person, Abby agrees. And then she’s gone. Missing. Without a trace. And everyone is left to put together the pieces. If they don’t, they’ll never see Abby again…

Review:
Wow! So, when we last chatted with Sarah Darer Littman she gave us a brief synopsis of Want to Go Private and I knew I was very interested in reading it just on what little she hinted at. I was so glad when a review copy arrived in the mail from Scholastic!

As you can tell from the synopsis, it is a very intense cautionary tale. The main character’s life is completely turned upside down by a simple “So, what u wearing?” from a random internet chat user named BlueSkyBoi (aka Luke). From there, Abby and Luke seem to totally hit it off, even becoming musical “soul mates”. Experiencing this complete life transformation for Abby was really hard to read in that the whole time you wanted to grab her and shake some sense into her. I wanted to just scream at her to tell her to really open her eyes. I also wanted to slap her parents silly for being so clueless. Anyway, in the end, as you know from the synopsis, after a rapid progression from chatting online to to talking on the phone, they meet in person and Abby goes missing.

One of the things I really liked about this book is the way the story is told. Up until she goes missing, the story is told from Abby’s perspective. At that point, the story continues told by other characters, Abby’s best friend Faith, Abby’s sister Lily, and a guy Abby dated in real life Billy. The reader experiences first had the emotions and feelings all the people in Abby’s life go through when she goes missing. And the ending of the story is phenomenal, but I will not give you any details since that would be a major spoiler. You will have to read for yourself to find out if they find Abby or if something horrific happens to her.

As a parent of two young daughters, I will be honest and tell you it scares the you-know-what out of me to see how easily predators can get ahold of your children and take them from you both physically and mentally (and emotionally)! I could easily see this book being used as part of internet safety presentations (although at times it does get graphic). I already strictly monitor their internet access and this story reassures me that I am doing the right thing.

Want to Go Private is a gripping cautionary tale. It sucked me into the story right away and the story line kept the pages turning. I could not read it fast enough to find out what happened next. If you have kids or you yourself are on the internet a lot, I highly recommend you pick up this book and read it. (Because, let’s face it, predators don’t just prey on kids… even adults can get caught up in a situation similar to Abby’s.)

Reviewer: Donna
Source: review copy from Scholastic
Target Audience: 14+, grades 9-12
Release date: August 1, 2011
Quick Links:
Want to Go Private Trailer

Want to Go Private on Goodreads

Sarah Darer Littman’s Website

There are additional links on Sarah’s website.