Henry Shaw, a high school senior from an average upper-middle-class Chicago family, discovers that his mother, a pianist, is having an affair when he accidentally reads her E-mail.
Heidi stands out in her alternative high school in many ways, but when she invents a boyfriend--complete with online profile--and her friends turn to him for advice, she must decide how far she is willing to go to find acceptance.
While trying to get back at the girl who has stolen her boyfriend, sixteen-year-old Annie and her stepbrother Nick accidentally send threatening e-mail messages to a stranger and find themselves targets for a murderer.
Traces the history of human correspondence from pre-historic times to the early twenty-first century, discussing how communication has changed and exploring how the invention of email has led to a people becoming more isolated, forcing them to spend more time with their computers than with their family and friends.
The author argues that the concern of parents, teachers, and other adults over the extensive use of text messaging by adolescents is misplaced, considering the phenomenon's effects on literacy, language, and society.
Ali offers to compose emails for anyone and any occasion as long as everyone is willing to become part of her ongoing story, but her story soon takes a turn even she did not expect.
When her father begins a long-distance romance with a Washington, D.C. zookeeper, twelve-year-old Frankie sends fabricated email letters to the zookeeper in an attempt to end the relationship.
