Katie.com

Katie.com burst on the reading scene in 2000, just as national concern over child safety on the internet reached critical mass; since then it has remained a popular read here at HHS. In an emotional memoir of her experiences with an internet predator, 17-year-old Katherine Tarbox plunges us into the world of her 14-year-old self: wealthy and talented, lonely and naive.

So how does an 8th grader from upscale New Canaan, CT, an athlete competing at the national level, and a concert pianist, end up in a Dallas hotel room with a middle-aged groper? Easy. She falls in love.

How VALLLEYGUY met ATARBOX, paid attention to her and encouraged her in the face of troubles at home and at school, makes up the first part of the book. In what seems like no time at all, we are in that Dallas hotel, wondering just how badly Katie will be hurt.

More damage is done when Katie resumes her life in New Canaan. Her mother is wildly angry. Her step-father thinks she ruined VALLLEYGUY’s life. The folks in town who don’t think she’s a slut think she’s crazy. There’s a trial. And Katie blames herself: “I needed to say that I was guilty, maybe even as guilty as the man who was going to jail for our relationship.” Relationship.... Yikes.

Katie.com is a cautionary tale on many levels, perhaps the least of which is the threat of internet stalking. I take the “blame the victim” mentality exemplified in the second half of the book to represent the greater danger. Do you?

Maximum Ride The Angel Experiment

Okay, if you haven't been here yet, and I know at least one avid reader who hasn't, you need to get here fast! And speed is what it's all about in James Patterson's incredibly successful (according to all kid readers) first attempt at YA literature. Maximum Ride and her team of five fled The School, where they were "lab rats" raised in cages, to seek sanctuary in the real world. Well, the world has become all too real for Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel, and the "Erasers" are after them, and how!

Never mind always having to scavenge for food, improve their flying, and discover each others' talents. That's all in a day's work. Flying? Yes, these six are 98% human and 2% bird; products of an experimental recombinent DNA experiment back at The School, they sport wingspans of up to 14 feet.

But those nasty, flying, wolf-like "Erasers" won't give them a moment's rest, as the flock pursues two vital pieces of information: the identity of their true parents, and the location of Angel, kidnapped by some of the worst bad guys in teen fiction. Hang on for a wild ride because Patterson has indulged us with two more books, and you won't want to miss a single page.

Send us a post from your journey, IF you can catch your breath.