Summary: Ashleigh's boyfriend, Kaleb, is about to leave for college, and Ashleigh is worried that he'll forget about her while he's away. So at a legendary end-of-summer pool party, Ashleigh's friends suggest she text him a picture of herself -- sans swimsuit -- to take with him. Before she can talk herself out of it, Ashleigh strides off to the bathroom, snaps a photo in the full-length mirror, and hits "send."
But when Kaleb and Ashleigh go through a bad breakup, Kaleb takes revenge by forwarding the text to his baseball team. Soon the photo has gone viral, attracting the attention of the school board, the local police, and the media. As her friends and family try to distance themselves from the scandal, Ashleigh feels completely alone -- until she meets Mack while serving her court-ordered community service. Not only does Mack offer a fresh chance at friendship, but he's the one person in town who received the text of Ashleigh's photo -- and didn't look.
Acclaimed author Jennifer Brown brings readers a gripping novel about honesty and betrayal, redemption and friendship, attraction and integrity, as Ashleigh finds that while a picture may be worth a thousand words . . . it doesn't always tell the whole story.
Title: Thousand WordsAuthor: Jennifer Brown
Pages: 282
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Review: I won this book in a Goodreads "First- Reads" giveaway, it is an ARC (My first paperback ARC woot!) I fell for this book when I saw the cover, I love it. If I would have seen it sitting on the shelf in a bookstore I would have bought it solemnly on the cover. I loved reading a good contemporary novel amongst all of the paranormal, sci-fi and fantasy that I have been reading lately. I know that this book will be a huge seller, not only because it is by the amazing Jennifer Brown, but because it deals with an issues that is becoming more prominent everyday with our ever changing technology. I am positive that more then a handful of people can relate to this novel. This book was written perfectly to showcase how the events would spiral out of control and exactly how each character would feel emotionally. It also shows that the people responsible dont realize how many people are affected by a "joke" and how many lives will never be the same afterwards.
I really felt bad for the main character Ashleigh. I know ultimately it was her decision to send the picture, but at the same time I don't think people realize how big of a role peer- pressure plays in ones actions. Ash tried to be brave and tough through the whole thing but eventually anyone would crack under the pressure, but I am happy Ashleigh didn't take it to more extreme measures like others have. I really liked amack, you can tell he is a genuinely nice guy, which he proved by not looking at the picture and by not judging Ashleigh for her prior actions.
This was a great read which will hit home with a lot of readers. I think that Thousand Words should be mandatory to read in schools. I would also recommend this book to All YA readers and even parents of teens. The message portrayed is a serious one but one that needs light shed on it.
About this Author
Two-time winner of the Erma Bombeck Global Humor Award (2005 & 2006), Jennifer's weekly humor column appeared in The Kansas City Star for over four years, until she gave it up to be a full-time young adult novelist.
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