New Books for the New Year - January 2016 New Books part 8

Red Girl, Blue Boy by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Contemporary Fiction 

As Katie's father and Drew's mother vie for the Presidency, the sixteen-year-olds start--and end--a romance, but the press finds out, both candidates' poll numbers rise, and the two are asked to flaunt their former relationship.

Rot & Ruin: Warrior Smart by Jonathan Maberry

Graphic Novel 

Four friends travel through the Sierra Nevada mountains, one step ahead of the zombie hordes and a long way from their destination.

Sasquatch by Andrea Schicke Hirsch

Mystery 

Following his parents' ugly divorce, Jake Oliver chooses to move with his father to a remote corner of Connecticut. It is bad enough that their new home turns out to be a fenced-in dump in the middle of nowhere, but it seems that the previous owner, his dad's late Uncle Horace, had been the local crackpot ridiculed by the community for his belief that a Bigfoot roamed the vast woodland preserve that lay beyond the property. Not everything about Jake's new life is bad, though. His job at the local market is okay, and it doesn't hurt that his coworker is pretty Nell Davis. But when odd things start to happen, like weird calls in the dead of night, stones thrown by an unseen assailant, and lingering foul odors wafting on the breeze, Jake starts to believe that maybe old Horace wasn't so crazy after all. With Nell's help, Jake is determined to make a name for himself by proving to the world that the mythical Sasquatch is alive and well and living in the woods just on the other side of that fence.

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

Fantasy 

On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom.

The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy: Practical Tips for Staying Safe Online by Violet Blue

Nonfiction

Everybody's talking about online privacy, personal security and cybersecurity -- and for good reason: we have less privacy than ever before. Social media, online dating, photo sharing, mobile everything… It can make your life a dream -- or a nightmare. The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy is the only guide focused on privacy for women. This book helps you hack your way through the jungle of privacy chaos and fight back against sleazy marketers, unethical megacorporations, scammers, stalkers, hacked apps, and thieves. 

Internet Safety

Heya guys and girls.  Today we have a serious and real life topic to discuss, because today I'd like to pass along some internet and Facebook safety tips.  I know you teens are spending time on the internet (how else would you be reading this, eh?) so it would be a good idea to know the basic safety precautions to take online.

Lets start with the general safety tips for the internet:

• Never give out personal information like your full name, phone number, address, or any other identifying information to a person you don't know, or a website that is not trustworthy. 
• Side note: when chatting, remember that anyone you chat with online that you don't personally know in your life could be lying to you about their age, gender, location, or anything else about themselves that they have told you.  Proceed with caution.
• Nothing you put on the internet is ever completely deleted or forgotten.  Teens have been suspended or expelled from school, been fired from their jobs, and been arrested or threatened with arrest over things that they have posted on the internet.  Don't post anything on the internet that you wouldn't want your parents, your sisters or brothers, your teachers, your principal, or the police chief to see.
• If anyone on the internet ever says or does something that makes you uncomfortable, tell an adult you can trust.  Keep lines of communication open with the adults you trust.
• Never agree to meet someone face to face alone.  Go with your parents or another trusted adult and always meet in public places where other people are present.
• Know that your ISP (Internet Service Provider) probably has rules about what kind of activity is permitted.  If you violate these rules, your internet, and possibly the internet of everyone in your house could be disabled, temporarily or permanently. 

Let's move on to safety tips for Facebook.  Every person I know has a Facebook account, so I'm sure the majority of you teens do as well.  Let's go over some ways to stay safe on Facebook.

• You can set your Facebook profile to PRIVATE!  This is a very, very good idea.  Your friends can still search for you by name or email, but no one will be able to see anything except your name without getting your permission first.
• Facebook requires you to put your name and age to sign up for a profile, but it's a good idea to use a nickname or a shortened version of your name to protect yourself from identity theft.  If your identity is stolen, you may not even know about until years from now when you're applying for a job or a credit card!
• There are many options for what to show on your profile, one of them is that you can hide your birthday, this is a good idea if you don't have your profile set to private.  (Which I definitely recommend!)
• Again, if you have not set your profile to private yet, make sure your home address is not public information!  Would you want strangers knowing exactly where you life?
• Even when your profile is set to private, people searching for you will be able to see your profile picture.  Consider what information they can get from it.  Are you wearing a school uniform, or standing outside a local store?  There are people on the Internet who could want to hurt you, so giving them clues about yourself is not the best idea.  Good profile pictures include pictures of just your face or a picture of you with a group of friends.
• Don't accept every friend request.  Accept the people you know.
• Think carefully before giving out your phone number.  Remember that once a person has it, they can call you whenever they want to or text whatever they want to you, including pictures.  Make sure it is someone you know and trust first.
• If someone starts to act hurtful, abusive, or is interacting with you in some other way that is making you uncomfortable, you have options!  You can always start with asking them to stop, if they are a close friend.  Other options include unfriending them or blocking them entirely.  If you find yourself in a situation where you need help, ask a trusted adult. 
• Visit Facebook's Safety Center to learn more: http://www.facebook.com/safety/
• Check your privacy settings here:  http://www.facebook.com/settings/privacy.php and I highly recommend that you at least choose "friends only" for everything.

Ok~  Well I know that may have been a bit boring with all that text, so here's a little bit of entertainment:

Internet Awareness Commercial

Alrighty, that's all I've got.  Good luck out there in cyberspace!