TOUCH by Kim Firmston
Published by Lorimer SideStreets
Ethan is trying his hardest to get some attention from his family, but his dad’s focus is always directed towards troubled stepsister Haley. When a dark secret threatens to destroy his family life, Ethan turns to his hacking skills to figure out who to believe: his father or Haley. He must also deal with the fact that he has spent his life striving to be just like his Dad, someone he may not really know — or want to be — at all.
Order your copy
Awards
Commended - Best Books for Kids & Teens - Canadian Children's Book Centre - 2013
Commended - One of the Year's Best for 2013 - Resource Links - 2013
Commended - One of the Year's Best for 2013 - Resource Links - 2013
Reviews of Touch
Excerpt from the review on Lectus Lego Ergo Sum (I Read Therefore I Am):
Touch is a quick read that deals with issues of dishonesty, trust, doing what is right, arrogance and even humbleness. I think this is a fantastic read for middle school students.
See the rest here: http://onlectus.blogspot.ca/2013/06/touch-lorimer-sidestreets-by-kim.html
Touch is a quick read that deals with issues of dishonesty, trust, doing what is right, arrogance and even humbleness. I think this is a fantastic read for middle school students.
See the rest here: http://onlectus.blogspot.ca/2013/06/touch-lorimer-sidestreets-by-kim.html
Excerpt of the review by blogger, hotmessjess94:
This book captivated me so much. I could not take my eyes off of it. I had to stop reading it when I went to work, but the whole time I was there I was thinking about how the plot was going to be laid out.
See the rest here: http://hotmessjess94.blogspot.ca/
This book captivated me so much. I could not take my eyes off of it. I had to stop reading it when I went to work, but the whole time I was there I was thinking about how the plot was going to be laid out.
See the rest here: http://hotmessjess94.blogspot.ca/
Excerpt of the review by Ms. Maxwell for Henry Street Library:
This book made me think about loyalty and trust. It made me wonder why we don't have a robotics team -- not that I could lead it, it just sounds amazing. This book made me think about the power of shared interest to bond people together. This book made me think about relationships and trying to decide who matters in my life. The characters rang true for me, and I would recommend this book to any grade 9 or 10 student. Pick this one up, or any of the other Lorimer books for a great quick read.
Read the rest here: http://henrystreetlibrary.weebly.com/hawk-blog.html
This book made me think about loyalty and trust. It made me wonder why we don't have a robotics team -- not that I could lead it, it just sounds amazing. This book made me think about the power of shared interest to bond people together. This book made me think about relationships and trying to decide who matters in my life. The characters rang true for me, and I would recommend this book to any grade 9 or 10 student. Pick this one up, or any of the other Lorimer books for a great quick read.
Read the rest here: http://henrystreetlibrary.weebly.com/hawk-blog.html
Excerpt of the review by Charlotte Duggan for CM Magazine
Firmston’s adeptly creates a realistic family scenario wherein a sexual predator manages to operate under the very noses of the rest of the victim’s family. While Hayley’s mother blindly laughs about never being able to “say no to that man”, Hayley cuts her arms and destroys her childhood toys. Meanwhile, Ethan tries to cope with his girlfriend and best friend problems by using the same manipulative strategies his father has used to control everyone around him. Of course, this is doomed, and just as Ethan’s father’s crimes against his stepdaughter emerge, Ethan’s life outside of the family begins to crumble.
See the rest here: http://umanitoba.ca/cm/vol19/no39/touch.html
Firmston’s adeptly creates a realistic family scenario wherein a sexual predator manages to operate under the very noses of the rest of the victim’s family. While Hayley’s mother blindly laughs about never being able to “say no to that man”, Hayley cuts her arms and destroys her childhood toys. Meanwhile, Ethan tries to cope with his girlfriend and best friend problems by using the same manipulative strategies his father has used to control everyone around him. Of course, this is doomed, and just as Ethan’s father’s crimes against his stepdaughter emerge, Ethan’s life outside of the family begins to crumble.
See the rest here: http://umanitoba.ca/cm/vol19/no39/touch.html
An exerpt from TOUCH
Back against my locker, legs crossed, head down, rotten vegetable soup smell coming from the chemistry classroom, I open the Firesheep extension on my laptop. The principal’s D2L network log in pops up on the left hand side of the screen. D2L stands for Desire2Learn. I don’t know why they call it that. I have no desire to learn. At least not at school.
I click on the principal’s name.
Now D2L thinks I’m him. From his administration account I can do a bunch of things — change my grades, mess with discussions, or delete whole class lists. I could screw up passwords, tell the teachers there’s a toga party in the staff
room, or even cancel school for the day. But that’s not why I’m here. I have something better.
Moving deeper into the network, I pass through the back door and into the code. I’m looking for the perfect place to upload my package. It’s a little virus called Hungry Sheep. If this works, I’m going to be the most talked about person on the hacking boards. Well, not me exactly, but Crypt0ph0n, my cyber name. And when Dad visits the boards, he’ll know — I’m following in his footsteps.
Dad wrote this virus way back in 1992. He showed it to me a few years ago. I spent months trying to figure out how to capture and upgrade it to work on today’s systems. As viruses go, Hungry Sheep is pretty tame. It’s a tiny pixelated sheep that walks across documents and eats all the letter E’s. The thing is, I could have released Hungry Sheep into the school’s computers last
year, at the end of grade ten. But Dad taught me to always have a back-up plan in case things get too hot. Some way of shutting down the virus. Now I have it — Big Bad Wolf. Coding that took me even longer than rewriting Hungry Sheep.
Basically Big Bad Wolf follows Hungry Sheep on the same path and eats it up, destroying any evidence that might get me caught. But I won’t be caught. My dad taught me all I know. He’s amazing.
I move Hungry Sheep from my flash drive into the school’s system. Then click out of the network, erasing my tracks and
unplugging the flash drive just as the bell rings. My first class is English 20-2. This morning, school is going to be fun.
I click on the principal’s name.
Now D2L thinks I’m him. From his administration account I can do a bunch of things — change my grades, mess with discussions, or delete whole class lists. I could screw up passwords, tell the teachers there’s a toga party in the staff
room, or even cancel school for the day. But that’s not why I’m here. I have something better.
Moving deeper into the network, I pass through the back door and into the code. I’m looking for the perfect place to upload my package. It’s a little virus called Hungry Sheep. If this works, I’m going to be the most talked about person on the hacking boards. Well, not me exactly, but Crypt0ph0n, my cyber name. And when Dad visits the boards, he’ll know — I’m following in his footsteps.
Dad wrote this virus way back in 1992. He showed it to me a few years ago. I spent months trying to figure out how to capture and upgrade it to work on today’s systems. As viruses go, Hungry Sheep is pretty tame. It’s a tiny pixelated sheep that walks across documents and eats all the letter E’s. The thing is, I could have released Hungry Sheep into the school’s computers last
year, at the end of grade ten. But Dad taught me to always have a back-up plan in case things get too hot. Some way of shutting down the virus. Now I have it — Big Bad Wolf. Coding that took me even longer than rewriting Hungry Sheep.
Basically Big Bad Wolf follows Hungry Sheep on the same path and eats it up, destroying any evidence that might get me caught. But I won’t be caught. My dad taught me all I know. He’s amazing.
I move Hungry Sheep from my flash drive into the school’s system. Then click out of the network, erasing my tracks and
unplugging the flash drive just as the bell rings. My first class is English 20-2. This morning, school is going to be fun.