Thousand Words

Gr 9–11—When 10th-grader Ashleigh feels pressured by her friends into texting a full-frontal nude photo of herself to her college-freshman boyfriend, she believes that the picture is for his eyes only. But Kaleb distributes it to his contact list in revenge for her friends' pranks after the two break up. Ashleigh receives a trickle of mocking messages at first, but when the distribution expands and is posted on a website, an outraged community demands retribution. She is sentenced to community service, and Kaleb is faced with the possibility of being charged as a sex offender. Ashleigh's violation is keenly and sensitively rendered. Text messages, which get crueler with time, headline chapters. Chapters smoothly alternate between flashbacks revealing the chain of events and Ashleigh's time in community service. How and why she is sentenced are slowly revealed, adding intrigue to the story. As the teen begins to fight back against her tormentors and regains trust in her friends, there is hope that her situation will improve. The far-reaching consequences of impulsivity and of texting are made clear, but not in a preachy, heavy-handed, or overly dramatic way. Teens will relate to Ashleigh's feelings of humiliation, even if they've never experienced them to the same degree.—Jennifer Schultz, Fauquier County Public Library, Warrenton, VA