LDS author Josi Kilpack is known for taking tough, contemporary issues and showing realistic characters work their way through these trials. Her newest release, “Sheep’s_Clothing,” tackles the very real problem of Internet predators.
Kate and Brad Thompson are raising the typical LDS family. They’re active in church callings, Kate devotes hours a day to taking care of her house and children, and they are striving in every way to have a perfect life. But things are starting to slip through the cracks, the largest of which is their fifteen-year-old daughter, Jess. Jess feels like the built-in babysitter, and her parents’ efforts to help her socialize through gymnastics are falling flat. She hates her class, her best friend is starting to grow away from her, and Jess feels like a failure.
Looking for something to do, Jess sets up a page on mybulletinbored.com, a fictional Internet site for teens. It’s not long before a girl named Emily contacts her, and they start sharing details of their lives with each other. Emily seems like the perfect friend in every way. She really understands what Jess is feeling, and supports Jess’s frustrations with her parents. Soon Emily asks Jess to e-mail Colt, Emily’s cousin, and Jess begins an e-mail relationship with him.
Meanwhile, Kate and Brad are trying to decide whether they should have another baby. Kate has always wanted a large family, and with six already, one might think she’d achieved her goal. But she wants one more, and Brad is against it. Complications with Kate’s last pregnancy scared him, and he’s not willing to put her through that risk again. Kate feels it will all turn out okay, and wonders why she can’t convince Brad.
When Colt tells Jess that he’s coming to town, she’s excited to meet this guy of her dreams. He sends her careful instructions for how to erase all their conversations from the computer and how to sneak out, leaving a note for her parents. When Kate and Brad get the note, they realize their daughter is gone.
Internet predators are on the rampage more than ever before. In this compelling, realistic novel, Josi Kilpack shows us how easy it is for our children to get lured into the trap, and she includes an author’s note of things we can do to safeguard our homes and our families.
(This book was published by Deseret Book in 2007.)
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