Want to Go Private?

Sarah Darer Littman

Oct 2011 · Sold by Scholastic Inc.

About this eBook

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.

Ratings and reviews

Hm.. Well... Okay. So, Want to Go Private's plot was pretty good and it kept moving forward, but despite all the reviews saying 'Oh my God! It sounds EXACTLY like how a teenager would think!' this book doesn't really capture how exactly teenagers would act. Sure, it does capture how teens act on the outside and the obvious things, but teenagers are a lot more complicated than portrayed in the book. Also, when the main characters are chatting online, the use of 'text language' was WAY overdone. Like WAY overdone. If you're looking for a book that would educate your kids about online predators, I would recommend this book, but don't get your hopes up, because it's not as convincing as other books.

I came across this book by an 8th grade student at the school where I work. The student let me borrow it during testing, and I couldn't put it down for 3 hours! Half way through the book, I kept imagining an awful experience like this possibly happening to my own 13 year old daughter. This book is a perfect example of how young girls are targeted by monsters online. Highly recommend for all young girls and boys to read! I will be passing this book to my daughter and other students of whom I work with.

I am around the same age as the main character so I can relate to some of the feelings that she feels. It helped me to learn that just because I think I will never do it it can still happen to me.

About the author

Sarah Darer Littman is the Sydney Taylor Honor author of Some Kind of Hate; Deepfake, Backlash; Want to Go Private?; Anything But Okay; In Case You Missed It; Life, After; and Purge. Together with Cindy L. Otis, she has written Influenced. Sarah is also an award-winning news columnist and teaches writing at Western Connecticut State University and with the Yale Writers' Workshop. She lives in Connecticut with her family in a house that never seems to have enough bookshelves. You can visit her online at sarahdarerlittman.com.