Chat room trap

Author text
Helen Vreeswijk was born in The Hague in 1961. After graduating from school, she made her way to a higher civil service career and became a fingerprint expert at the Dutch criminal investigation department. She also wrote reviews and background reports on children's and youth literature for the staff newspaper. Through her experiences with juvenile victims and perpetrators, she began to write down the stories behind the brutal and often tragic crimes and to illuminate the motives behind these acts. In the meantime, she has given up her job with the criminal investigation department and started her own business as a writer. Helen Vreeswijk currently lives with her family in Arnhem.

Flap text
A rainy day in June, somewhere in the Dutch province. Two girls lie unconscious behind a bus stop. What happened? Marcia and Floor have known each other since seventh grade. After school, they meet up to surf the Internet. Marcia is convinced that the only way to get to know really cute boys is in the chat room. The fact that some boys ask her to take her clothes off only makes things more tingly. What can the guys behind their computers do to them? That's where a model agency's offer ends up in Floors' inbox. On the Internet, the girls admire the models' great pictures - only to then set off full of hope for the photo shoot. What happens to Marcia and Floor in the chat room is not an isolated incident. In her work as a criminal police officer, Helen Vreeswijk experienced all too often how young people became victims of abuse and violence via the Internet. She wrote this book to warn girls and boys of the dangers of the supposedly anonymous chat rooms. The author not only tells the moving story of Floor and Marcia, but also how the police get to the bottom of the culprits. AWARDS: Nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize 2010 (Youth Jury)