Chat Room

Reviewed by Molly Pettrone (age 11) for Reader Views (7/07) "Chat Room" begins with introducing some typical teen characters as they are gathered at an assembly. We meet Linda, a shy girl who is the type of girl that sort of blends into the lockers, Janet Beasley, who the kids call `Beastly' because of her appearance and her strong personality, Marc Solomon, who is not only the student council president but one of the most popular kids in school, and Chad Sharp, a quiet kid who Linda finds is as self-conscious as she is during the chain gang relay during the `riot.' The news at the assembly is interesting. On the school website, planned and set up by Chad, is a chat room that only Wellington students can use. Most kids are excited about the chat room, but Janice thinks it is a perfect place for sickos and psychos to hang out. So when Linda decides to join the chat room as `Roxanne' she doesn't tell Janice at first what she is doing, and in fact, only lurks there reading posts before she gets up the nerve to actually post herself. After that it gets really interesting. Not only is Linda drawn to a chatter by the name of Cyrano, but she is becoming more and more `into' the chat room, spending hours at the computer before she even realizes it. What happens to Linda next is really confusing for her. Not only does she think she has figured out a way to meet Cyrano, but she begins to receive gifts with notes signed only with `C.' She is both thrilled and nervous about this meeting, but something gets mixed up and Linda finds out the truth about Cyrano and the gifts. "Chat Room" is a book that is not only a quick book to read, but a predictable book as well. It seems to hit a lot of stereotypical teen types and the ending is pretty easy to guess. I'd suggest "Chat Room" for kids between 11 and 13, or maybe a little younger if they are good readers and can understand the personalities of the characters. This book is really more of a book for girls to read, though some younger guys might find the situations in the chat room and the confusion of Linda interesting as well. Though it was predictable, it would be an OK book for the younger readers, as older teens might lose interest in the storyline.

Chat Room by Kristin Butcher is 102 pages long and was published by Orca Book Publishers in 2006. This is a book about what the author fears which is chat rooms. She often writes about her fears to get over them. The Chat Room is very similar to what happens when people go to real chat rooms. The main character is Janice, a 13 year old girl in the 8th grade. She isn't quite sure at first to go to the school chat room but she does anyway. Once Janice starts going to chat rooms, she gets obsessed with it and keeps on going to them so she never really has time to do her school work or hangout with her friends because she gets so cought up with it. The majority of this story takes place on the internet and at Janice's school. This story is told through a third person point of view through the author's eyes. The protagonist of this story is Janice. The antagonists of this story are Janice's friends, who tell her time and time again that she shouldn't be going into chat rooms. Janice believes that if she watches what other people say, she can learn a lot about the people who are chatting. One strength of this book is that it's very interesting and It makes you not want to put it down. In the beginning it starts off boring and nothing really happens until Janice first hears about a chat room. Another thing I really liked a lot was she was really nosy about finding out stuff about other people and if you're nosy you'd really connect with that. I definitely do because I'm nosy myself. I think that what Kristin Butcher writes about is very relevant to real life because people could just go into chat rooms and watch what you say so they can learn things about you. I was excited to read this book by Kristin Butcher because most of her stories are about her fears and I really enjoy it because to me it's very interesting. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book. I think it'd really help you out with your fear if you have one with chat rooms too.

Chat Room by Kristin Butcher is 102 pages long and was published by Orca Book Publishers in 2006. This is a book about what the author fears which is chat rooms. She often writes about her fears to get over them. The Chat Room is very similar to what happens when people go to real chat rooms. The main character is Janice, a 13 year old girl in the 8th grade. She isn't quite sure at first to go to the school chat room but she does anyway. Once Janice starts going to chat rooms, she gets obsessed with it and keeps on going to them so she never really has time to do her school work or hangout with her friends because she gets so caught up with it. The majority of this story takes place on the internet and at Janice's school. This story is told through a third person point of view through the author's eyes. The protagonist of this story is Janice. The antagonists of this story are Janice's friends, who tell her time and time again that she shouldn't be going into chat rooms. Janice believes that if she watches what other people say, she can learn a lot about the people who are chatting. One strength of this book is that it's very interesting and it makes you not want to put it down. In the beginning it starts off boring and nothing really happens until Janice first hears about a chat room. Another thing I really liked a lot was she was really nosy about finding out stuff about other people and if you're nosy you'd really connect with that. I definitely do because I'm nosy myself. I think that what Kristin Butcher writes about is very relevant to real life because people could just go into chat rooms and watch what you say so they can learn things about you. I was excited to read this book by Kristin Butcher because most of her stories are about her fears and I really enjoy it because to me it's very interesting. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book. I think it'd really help you out with your fear if you have one with chat rooms too.