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Oct 07, 2011

Mark rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 12, 2011

Laura rated it:

Want to Go Private is a realistic and powerful look into the reality of teens and the temptation of "meeting" new people online. Being from a generation where AIM was new and exciting, it was very tempting to talk to random people, esp. those who would tell you that you were pretty and showed an interest in you that people in your everyday life might not show you. Abby feel a victim to that in this novel, and I think this book is not only powerful but necessary in a time where social n More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 18, 2011

Karen rated it:

Eye-opening, amazing, and heartbreaking. Abby is having trouble adjusting to life in high school, especially when she feels so alone. Even her best friend Faith isn't enough to keep school from feeling like prison, and Faith is getting involved and finding new friends at school. Abby's found someone new too, but she doesn't want to tell anyone about him... everyone thinks it's so weird to meet someone online. But Luke is different - he's interested in her, and what she thinks, and they've ta More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Feb 10, 2012

BAYA rated it:

The first quarter of the book is narrated by freshman Abby, who is school-smart, but feels like she does not fit in with her fashion-obsessed mother and sister, absent father, and best friend who is starting to make new friends in high school. When she meets "27-year old" "Luke" online, her self-esteem goes up as Luke showers her with compliments and attention. They soon go to private chatrooms where Luke convinces her to have web-camera sex with him. He sends her a secret ce More...

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Feb 09, 2012

Jennifer rated it:

When I first received this book and read the title I never in my mind thought the book would be what is it! This is a very powerful book that teaches you of the dangers of the Internet and meeting people from a chat room. Although, the book is a YA I think it’s a little too straight forward for a YA and believe it’s best as an adult book, but that’s just my opinion. The author does not hold back in her words describing the situation and goes into detail which is interesting in the way she portra More...

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Jan 15, 2012

Hannah rated it:

As soon as I got finished reading this book, I texted a friend and said, “If I could put one book into the hands of every 13 year old, this is that book.”

Want to Go Private? is a powerful, moving, and emotional rollercoaster of a book that is not only horrifically accurate, but gracefully written. Sarah Darer Littman pulls no punches as she describes how easy it really is for a predatory to worm their way into your home.

Abby is the typical American teenager. She feels aw More...

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Jan 07, 2012

Raquel rated it:

I hated this book, I hated it. I hated. Yeah, I can see the significance of it, but I was just creeped out and disgusted with it. It did a great job of opening my eyes to something that I thought was foolish and that no person would ever do and showed me that it really does happen. I just couldn't even finish it. I could not feel anything for the main character, it just makes me want to shout out, "ewww, you're stupid. Don't do it. Why would you meet him?" The character actually seemed More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2012

Christina rated it:

Abby was a completely normal girl, until she met Luke. In Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman, a girl meets a boy online and things go much further then she expected them too. She has written four books, including Purge and Life, After. She writes fiction for mostly young adults. In her book Want to Go Private a girl named Abby is just starting high school and is very nervous. She doesn’t want to branch out but her best friend Faith is already making new friends. Abby and Faith like to ta More...

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Dec 29, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

This book was scary in the "that could have been me" way. When I was Abby's age, I was hanging around cyberspace probably even more carelessly than she did (To Catch a Predator didn’t premiere until the year after I graduated high school). I chatted with many people of different ages without ever having anything awful happen to me, or ever starting any romantic relationships - but I did find myself on the receiving end of lot of attention, and an occasional gift or two mailed to the ho More...

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Dec 27, 2011

Christina (Reading Thru The Night) rated it:

This is Such A Horrific Book and it has #nightmare written all over it. If this was a movie I would be watching it with my hands covering my eyes, peeking through for broken images. Since all of the visualizations were in my head and I couldn't visualize a pair of hands to cover up the horrid pictures, I spent most of the book biting my bottom lip.

Hands down I would not want to be a kid in today's technological era. Nor would I want to be a parent when there are so many ways for pre More...

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Nov 26, 2011

Melanie added it

Abby is beginning high school. It’s an exciting time, but also a terrifying one that signals a shift in her academic and social life. Abby struggles with the transition, and she’s afraid to talk to her family about it. The one person she feels she really can talk to about absolutely everything is Luke. Abby and Luke met through an online social network for teens, and Luke seems to understand everything Abby is going through. He always makes her feel smarter and prettier, he always takes her side More...

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Nov 07, 2011

Sara added it

"Want To Go Private?" by Sarah Darer Littman was a book i couldn't put down for a second. It made me laugh out loud and embarrass myself for being a disturbance to others. The novel made me want to cry and yell at the main character for being so naive. I could easily picture Abby, as the young, naive and trusting girl she is in the story.This is definately one of the best and most disturbing books I have ever read.
Abby is a freshman in high school and is having a hard More...

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Nov 06, 2011

Susan rated it:

This is a YA book with a very adult subject matter. Abby comes from a typical middle-class family - a hard working father who is not home a lot, a working mom who is at times a little overbearing and a bratty sister. She is an A+ student. She has also been BFFs with Faith since second grade. But neither are in "The Clique." As they start high school with a bit of apprehension, Faith branches out, meets a new friend, gets onvolved with drama club and only has P.E. with Abby. Abby More...

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Nov 04, 2011

Lisa rated it:

It is not my habit to negatively review books, as I can generally find value in anything I read, but I have to be honest, I hated this book and I don't know how it got published.

If you are looking to read this book because you think there's a mystery to solve, or intrigue surrounding the disappearance of the main character, back away now, because this is not the book for you.

If you want to read a poorly written after-school special, well then, this is the book for you.

More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 27, 2011

Cat rated it:

I’m going to be honest, I struggled with reading Want to Go Private. Not because of the writing, but because of the content. And because I’m a mom with a daughter, and the mother of three sons. Also, because in my career as a child advocate I’ve seen first hand the impact that poor choices have on a teen’s life.

Want to Go Private?

Those very words strike fear into my heart, and have since my (much younger) brother and sister caught the first wave of internet chat rooms. More...

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Oct 26, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

Want to Go Private?
by: Sarah Darer Littman
Pub. Date: August 2011
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Format: Hardcover , 336pp
Sales Rank: 51,336
Age Range: 12 and up

ISBN-13: 9780545151467
ISBN: 0545151465

Summary: Abby is just starting high school. She’s not excited about it. Her friend Faith seems to be way more interested in it than Abby does. The two of them talk online on the new teen site, CHEZTEEN.com, and a stranger interrupts them. He sympathizes More...

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Oct 20, 2011

Amanda (Pearl the Book Girl) rated it:

Wow, this is an intense book. I want to say it should be read by older teens, but no. This is a book middle schoolers need to read because the dangers really do start that young, as much as I hate to admit it. I went onto a chat room for the first time when I was in 5th grade (I was only 10 years old, I was put in school early). The dangers are out there, and not only do parents need to educate their children, but they also need to educate themselves. I was worried this book was going to be More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 09, 2011

Harmony rated it:

It's gonna be hard writing this review.

Want To Go Private is the story of Abby, who's feeling isolated and alone after she starts high school. Add to that the fact her best friend and her don't have much in common anymore, her parents don't understand her, and she has absolutely no self-esteem. So when she meets "Luke" in an online chat room, he understands her like no one else does...and you can see where it does from there.

This is a hard review to write for me bec More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Wisteriouswoman rated it:

This book was hard to put down. It almost gave me nightmares it was so powerful. I probably would say it is definitely for the over 12 year old set since some of the sexual imagery is fairly graphic. It is a great cautionary tale about how naive young teens are until they go to the school of hard knocks. Unfortunately, in the world of online chats and sexual predators many girls never live to learn from their experience. The main character Abby is a smart but lonely girl and it is easy to under More...

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Sep 09, 2011

Ziaria rated it:

My thoughts are all over the board with this one. During the first part of the book, I alternated between horror with what I was reading to disgust. However, at the same time, I got to thinking children being targeted by sexual predators online is dirty, disgusting and horrific and maybe me feeling that way was what was intended. I will say the content may have been more graphic than needed to get the point across but I don't judge that. I look back and remember how stubborn I was when I was a t More...

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Aug 25, 2011

Jackie rated it:

I started this book and couldn't stop--I read it straight through. This is the story of
Abby, who is having trouble adjusting to high school, especially since she doesn't see
very much of her best friend anymore. They don't have classes together and Faith is
getting into new activities, like school plays, that Abby is just not into. So she
relies more and more on her online friends at a teen targeted chat site. Especially
Luke. He compliments her, he agrees with her, he' More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 10, 2011

Ashley rated it:

Coming from a teenager that does talk to online strangers, this book didn't really open my eyes that much, if I am to be perfectly honest, because I was already aware of the risks I was taking. This is about this lonely, scared teenager who started off the way every victim probably did, by having a casual conversation with "BlueSkyBoi" on this new website called ChezTeen.com, and he made her feel better about going into high school. With that, as you all know, she decided to go meet More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 02, 2011

Lee rated it:

A timely and scary book that all teens, parents, teachers and school counselors should read.
Freshman Faith Wilson is over the moon about starting high school and meeting new people, but her best friend, Abby Johnston, is in her own words ambivalent. High school, in her opinion, just means a bigger place to get lost in and more cliques in which she won't fit. Still, she takes her friend's advice and makes an effort with her appearance for the first day, but when the cute guy she meets forg More...

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Jun 28, 2011

Barbara rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jun 16, 2011

Donna (Jaevenstar) rated it:

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). Fro More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 27, 2011

Jodi rated it:

Littman did an amazing job creating a story that was so horrifyingly disturbing that you almost have no choice but to be scared straight. Want to Go Private was nauseatingly realistic. One of the reviews that I read alligned it to watching a train wreck and that, for me, was spot-on. So many times I wanted to reach through the book and just grab Abby and knock some sense in to her.
Abby is very apprehensive about starting high school. She has never really found her niche in a More...

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Sep 07, 2011

Cheyenne rated it:

It's safe to say that this book turned out almost exactly as I expected. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy it. Want To Go Private? seemed eerily familiar as I can relate to Abby to an extent. In the story, she's scared to start high school and it seems that when she does, her best friend is slipping away from her. In a vulnerable state, it's easy to trust those who will listen to you, especially if no one else will. As the story went on, it turns into this nightmare that many- but not enou More...

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Aug 26, 2011

Eileen rated it:

YA--very au courant.

"Want To Go Private?" by Sarah Darer Littman projects an urgent message about Internet safety. Typical teens roll their eyes at their school's annual safety lectures, and every parents seems to think, "Not my kid. . . she's (he's) too smart."

In this novel, Abby and her friend, Faith, are in their freshman year of high school. Abby is sure that high school will be a repeat of the horror show called junior high with the cliques and queen More...

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Aug 10, 2011

Alicia rated it:

Like Boy Toy, Jailbait, or Laura Ruby's books, the internet and pervert predators are on the menu. The loneliness that Abby is beginning to feel starting high school and losing touch with her friend open her up to an online relationship with a stranger. What begins as innocence turns into soft porn when he asks her to dangerously do more and hide more of their relationship but when her good grades begin to suffer he puts his predatory ways into action and asks to meet and run away. She blindly o More...

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Jul 23, 2011

Kelly rated it:

Abby's not having a good year. Her younger sister's a brat, her dad's barely around and high school is about as great as she thought it would be...which is to say, NOT AT ALL. Her best friend Faith is only in one of her classes, and she's got a new friend, Grace, and Abby feels left out. And then she meets Luke online. Right from the start, she feels a connection to him, and she tells him things that she wouldn't tell other people. It doesn't take long before she feels that they're totally More...

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