Exposed

by Susan Vaught

Book Overview

Chan Shealy's got most things going right in her life--straight A's, a shot at the regional majorette championships in baton twirling, and the best best friend a girl could wish for. But after the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1599901617
• ISBN13: 9781599901619
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Length: 330 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.3" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 14 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 9 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

It’s okay

Exposed was an okay book, definitely recommend this book for teens to read even adults. I think the writer could have focused on the whole story line more rather than Chans twirling. The writer focused more on Chans character and development with twirling more rather than the whole storyline about being exposed to online predators. I think she could have focused more on it. Overall it’s not a bad book definitely recommend reading the book. It’s definitely a great way to read and learn something about online predators and to be more smarter to protect yourself from predators online and to never give out personal information. I do like that this book has given insight about it just wish there was more of it in the book itself.

Awesome

this was such an easy read. I love it with a passion. I have nver read a book that delt with this subject before and I would recomend it anybody!!!!!

Scary and good

I am extremely happy that I am not a parent. I cannot even imagine how challenging and scary it must be to be someone's parent in this day and age. Reading Exposed has simply confirmed this for me. Author, Susan Vaught has written an absolutely scary and unfortunately all too realistic book about a young girl who is confused, living in a dysfunctional family and is desperate for some love and attention - desperate to be "understood" and desperate for total and unconditional acceptance - I have basically described almost every teenager out there. The difference is that Chan decides that she is going to go out into cyberspace to do this. As the storyline develops, the author clearly shows us the denial Chan, our main character, is going through when it comes to her "online idea". Somehow, by the time she does decide to go ahead and post her profile on a dating site, she has convinced herself that this will be the solution to all her problems and getting reinforcing confirmation from her best friend simply adds to the attraction of the whole idea. Early on, we discover that Chan's family life is a mess, with an obese father who suffered a heart attack but refused to stop eating, to a controlling mother and an absolutely neurotic younger sister, who herself, seems primed for disaster. Chan has also suffered at the hands of a former boyfriend and is now being excluded from most of her school friends. In other words, Chan was a perfect victim - and what makes Exposed so realistic is that you can actually see Chan's progression from "maybe wanting to do this" to the point where she actually starts feeling very scared about her exchanges with the "not so perfect" Paul. I gritted my teeth through so many of their exchanges - it was so spooky how easily this predator had it all figured out - as if he knew exactly what Chan needed and when she needed it. The storyline was extremely engrossing and I found myself going through a variety of emotions while reading this book. This to me, is the sign of a good book. The only thing I found was that the storyline was a tad slow in starting up. I am glad I persisted as the plot gets very, very interesting, but the first few chapters (setting up the introduction and the set up of Chan's life) were a little long.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Chan has PIRs (parental Internet rules) when it comes to being on the computer and the Internet at home. The key rules are: 1. Never put any identifying information on the Internet without parental approval. 2. No public profiles. 3. Everything that is done on the computer gets supervised or reviewed. Chan is about to break every one of these rules in the next few weeks. After a horrible breakup at school the previous spring with the school quarterback, Chan avoids dating and boys. But she wants to find the perfect companion somehow. And the best and safest way, Chan decides, is to find one on the Internet. But this goes against all three of the cardinal rules. So with begrudging help from her best friend, Devin, the two girls set up a secret Blahfest profile. The two also add streaming video of the two twirling batons in Chan's room. Before they know it, Chan has a message on her profile. It's from Knighthawk859. The two start secret harmless chat sessions that go long into the night. Knighthawk (aka Paul) tells Chan how to download a screen saver that will also help purge and hide any talks and keystrokes. Paul seems perfect and can even recite Emily Dickinson back to Chan. (Chan adores Emily's poetry.) Chan's schoolwork starts to suffer, and she's getting less and less sleep. It doesn't help that her 8-year-old sister, Lauren, wakes up with nightmares each night and comes into Chan's room for comfort. With lack of sleep, and bruises from Lauren's restless sleeping, all Chan can concentrate on is her next chat session with Paul. The only bright spot outside of the chatting is her twirling. With Paul's assistance (financial and educational), Chan has gotten onto a training routine and her twirling has never been better. But soon, the chatting turns darker. And when Chan encounters a similar screen saver on the family's computer downstairs, she starts to panic that her younger sister has gotten in above her head as well. Can Chan come clean with her secret boyfriend to save her sister, or will everything come crashing down because of her? EXPOSED is one of those books that are ideal to be shared between parents and their teenagers. It explores the hazards of seemingly harmless chatting on the Internet. It shares how anyone determined enough can piece the puzzle pieces together with relatively limited information. Chan's PIRs may seem silly to the average teenager, but in reality, and in light of today's identity thefts and predators, they may even be too simple. Reviewed by: Jaglvr

A MUST READ

Excellent, very well written, fast paced, shocker of an ending. Can't wait for the next work from this author.