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You've Got Blackmail
On top of all the other dramas going on in her life, including her parents' recent separation and a bully plotting to seek revenge for a gag gone wrong, Lozzie discovers that her mother's new boyfriend is being blackmailed and so becomes determined to find out why to make sure her mother isn't being put in harm's way.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 2007
10 people are currently reading
196 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Wright
135 books5 followersRachel Wright grew up in Bermuda, England, the Seychelles, and Fiji. She used to be an actress (after gaining a degree in drama in 1982, she worked as an actress for BBC Radio and various theatre companies, including one she co-founded with a friend) but now she writes full-time. (In 1989 I produced my first children’s non-fiction book and it’s been pretty non-stop since.) Her works include You've Got Blackmail and more than 40 children’s non-fiction books.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 22, 2024
First, I should have realized this book is too young for me, but overall, it had a good ending.
July 16, 2009
Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com
YOU'VE GOT BLACKMAIL is one of those books that has so many things going on at the same time. It wasn't until I was over halfway through the story that I finally had an inkling of where it was going. Whether that is good or bad, I can't say. But it did keep me guessing up until the end!
Lauren "Lozzie" Cracknell has made a significant blunder. She sent a mean picture of Tonya Ravonia meant for her best bud Dex to everyone's email at school. In the picture, Loz superimposed Tonya's face on the back end of a horse. Needless to say, when it gets back to Tonya, Lozzie is worried about being beaten up. Tonya and her friends are the local bullies at school.
When Lozzie comes home from school one day, she finds her house has been broken into. But it seems the only thing that has gone missing is a locked box that Lozzie had under her bed. It's beyond her why anyone would steal that box. It contains her diary, yes, but the other items are just valuable to her: a cassette tape from her dad's musical days, a bracelet she stole from Lee's backpack, things like that.
As Lozzie's friends rally around her to protect her from being shoved into the toilet by Tonya and her posse, other crazy things start to happen.
Lozzie is afraid her mother may be dating her horrible teacher Mr. Hilary (!) Barnett. When Lozzie finds an invite to him among her mom's outgoing mail at the salon, Dex and Lozzie secretly open the message. What they find instead is a blackmail note. So now Lozzie doesn't have just Tonya to worry about. She's concerned her mom, or someone else at the salon, may be involved with something terribly illegal. It's up to Loz and Dex to figure it out.
As the plot thickens, the reader gets drawn into the intrigue and drama that surrounds Loz's life. Highly entertaining, the book moves quickly and leaves you chuckling at everything that occurs.
YOU'VE GOT BLACKMAIL is one of those books that has so many things going on at the same time. It wasn't until I was over halfway through the story that I finally had an inkling of where it was going. Whether that is good or bad, I can't say. But it did keep me guessing up until the end!
Lauren "Lozzie" Cracknell has made a significant blunder. She sent a mean picture of Tonya Ravonia meant for her best bud Dex to everyone's email at school. In the picture, Loz superimposed Tonya's face on the back end of a horse. Needless to say, when it gets back to Tonya, Lozzie is worried about being beaten up. Tonya and her friends are the local bullies at school.
When Lozzie comes home from school one day, she finds her house has been broken into. But it seems the only thing that has gone missing is a locked box that Lozzie had under her bed. It's beyond her why anyone would steal that box. It contains her diary, yes, but the other items are just valuable to her: a cassette tape from her dad's musical days, a bracelet she stole from Lee's backpack, things like that.
As Lozzie's friends rally around her to protect her from being shoved into the toilet by Tonya and her posse, other crazy things start to happen.
Lozzie is afraid her mother may be dating her horrible teacher Mr. Hilary (!) Barnett. When Lozzie finds an invite to him among her mom's outgoing mail at the salon, Dex and Lozzie secretly open the message. What they find instead is a blackmail note. So now Lozzie doesn't have just Tonya to worry about. She's concerned her mom, or someone else at the salon, may be involved with something terribly illegal. It's up to Loz and Dex to figure it out.
As the plot thickens, the reader gets drawn into the intrigue and drama that surrounds Loz's life. Highly entertaining, the book moves quickly and leaves you chuckling at everything that occurs.
April 10, 2010
What’s there to lose—something meaningful and both in real life or the story world—is real emotional depth… In You've Got Blackmail by Rachel Wright, you’ll experience fascinating events and face many problems the characters are facing in the story. The best part is that things happen after one and another. First is all this separation between fourteen year old Lozzie’s parent, which she has to worry and deal with at home. Then back in school, there’s more things to worry about. The big danger she is instead of mailing her mother's exclusive party invitations, she accidentally hit “Reply all.” She sends out a picture of the bully Tonya to the whole class. Next big event is at her mom's salon, Lozzie and Dex find a note addressed to Hilary blackmailing him.
Rachel Wright’s magic hands can really turn the impossible into possible and the never into a miracle! You've Got Blackmail is one of her books and through this book, you can seek the way how she can makes all these unbelievable into believable. Usually in books, when parents get divorced, the up-coming second family is already unacceptable for the kids—in this case Lozzie. But under Ms. Wright’s hand, she gave it an even great jump. Lozzie’s mom is hooking up with Lozzie’s English teacher Mr. Hilary Barnett. And as a matter of fact, they’ve been dating!
Life can’t get any worse for Lozzie. Poor her only knows how to get into trouble and can solve nothing except maybe for the blackmail case. Clues after clues, can Lozzie and her friends solve the mystery case before it’s too late? Don’t miss this fast pace book! What’s left are following the detective’s path and go with them on their way to solving the blackmail case!
Rachel Wright’s magic hands can really turn the impossible into possible and the never into a miracle! You've Got Blackmail is one of her books and through this book, you can seek the way how she can makes all these unbelievable into believable. Usually in books, when parents get divorced, the up-coming second family is already unacceptable for the kids—in this case Lozzie. But under Ms. Wright’s hand, she gave it an even great jump. Lozzie’s mom is hooking up with Lozzie’s English teacher Mr. Hilary Barnett. And as a matter of fact, they’ve been dating!
Life can’t get any worse for Lozzie. Poor her only knows how to get into trouble and can solve nothing except maybe for the blackmail case. Clues after clues, can Lozzie and her friends solve the mystery case before it’s too late? Don’t miss this fast pace book! What’s left are following the detective’s path and go with them on their way to solving the blackmail case!
March 29, 2009
So this book is short, extremely short. It took me less than 2 hours to finish this book from start to finish. Maybe it was the huge font or the txt msg like wrds?
My biggest frustration for this book has to be the writing style. I felt that while I was reading this I was being sent back through time to when the 5th grade. I felt like screaming “We teens may still be quite young but that does not mean we cannot understand complete and coherent sentences!” It was like reading from 10 year old point of view—childish, annoying, and random at moments. The characters were as equally charming.
The actual “blackmail” does not occur until midway through the book. Even then the blackmail is quite straightforward. I tried to solve the mystery of the culprit, following the clues and piecing the hints together, but alas, to no avail. Why? I expected twists and turns, like a true mystery. Instead I ended up with a give me. I thought too much in this case. Be warned when reading, DO NOT THINK. Just go with the flow…which may or may not be a good idea.
I am stressing. Why? I cannot seem to comprehend the book. What did I read? Was the entire book based on that 20 page blackmail!? Quite baffling.
The redeeming aspects of this book can be the humor. It was funny in some scenes. The ending was also quite decent.
Overall: …so does anyone have any good recommendations to cleanse my palette?
My biggest frustration for this book has to be the writing style. I felt that while I was reading this I was being sent back through time to when the 5th grade. I felt like screaming “We teens may still be quite young but that does not mean we cannot understand complete and coherent sentences!” It was like reading from 10 year old point of view—childish, annoying, and random at moments. The characters were as equally charming.
The actual “blackmail” does not occur until midway through the book. Even then the blackmail is quite straightforward. I tried to solve the mystery of the culprit, following the clues and piecing the hints together, but alas, to no avail. Why? I expected twists and turns, like a true mystery. Instead I ended up with a give me. I thought too much in this case. Be warned when reading, DO NOT THINK. Just go with the flow…which may or may not be a good idea.
I am stressing. Why? I cannot seem to comprehend the book. What did I read? Was the entire book based on that 20 page blackmail!? Quite baffling.
The redeeming aspects of this book can be the humor. It was funny in some scenes. The ending was also quite decent.
Overall: …so does anyone have any good recommendations to cleanse my palette?
June 16, 2009
This was my first British novel, so you can image the culture shock or the head-spins from all that foreign slag. To tell you the truth, you really need a glossary of British slang because most of the time, I didn't know what they were even talking about. And I thought some of our slang words were silly, try this out for size:
Instead of saying or saying something close to "Saved by a bell", they say "Saved by a biscuit".
"Saved by a biscuit"?? You've got to be kidding me. Of course though, they probably think the same way about our gang slangs like "Sup'" or "Dog" (most unintelligent).
The "mystery blackmail" plot in this book is pretty predictable-sorry no Agatha Christie or even Nancy Drew here. I felt that the book was rather choppy and had too many short sentences, which gave you the feeling that the author was trying too had to describe the humor. You've Got Blackmail is a comedy so you won't be board I can tell you that, but the characters were a tad too shallow. Nonetheless it was faily enjoyable and will surely keep those pages flipping. Say, maybe you'll even pick up some funky slang words like "saved by a biscuit" or "bugger"....then again, maybe not.
You've Got Blackmail is a short light read that will tickle you pink or even awaken your best British accent. Tea anyone?
Want to read a more detailed review? Check out booksandliteratureforteens.blogspot.com
Instead of saying or saying something close to "Saved by a bell", they say "Saved by a biscuit".
"Saved by a biscuit"?? You've got to be kidding me. Of course though, they probably think the same way about our gang slangs like "Sup'" or "Dog" (most unintelligent).
The "mystery blackmail" plot in this book is pretty predictable-sorry no Agatha Christie or even Nancy Drew here. I felt that the book was rather choppy and had too many short sentences, which gave you the feeling that the author was trying too had to describe the humor. You've Got Blackmail is a comedy so you won't be board I can tell you that, but the characters were a tad too shallow. Nonetheless it was faily enjoyable and will surely keep those pages flipping. Say, maybe you'll even pick up some funky slang words like "saved by a biscuit" or "bugger"....then again, maybe not.
You've Got Blackmail is a short light read that will tickle you pink or even awaken your best British accent. Tea anyone?
Want to read a more detailed review? Check out booksandliteratureforteens.blogspot.com
June 2, 2010
I picked up this book at the library because the title was enticing and a sticker on the side promised me a mystery. However, the beginning half of the book was empty drivel about how the main character was afraid of this girl in her class, creeped out by the fact her mother might have been dating her teacher, and helplessly in love with some random guy. Completely cliche and absolutely nothing to do with the aforementioned blackmail. For about 50 pages after that the book heats up with the actual blackmail part of the plot, but it dropped rapidly from there.
June 13, 2011
What a cute story and a fast read about Lozzie, a teenager dealing with her mom dating (yuck!), her dad living near the girl who has swore to kill her, a older sister, finding things under her bed, someone going through her room, a weird teacher and she discovers someone is blackmailing someone about something. Funny! It is fun to read from Lozzie's English point of view talking about her life and events.
194 pages
194 pages
December 2, 2013
The book has a good mystery, but the language itself was very juvenile. I like the British accent, but I just assumed that the language wouldn't be so "elementary." This book has your very good mystery elements and the mystery itself was actually pretty decent to read, but it lacked length and words in my opinion and it was boring and uninteresting a little at first. It was more towards the last half of the book where things start to pick up and actually attract my interest to keep reading.
February 5, 2014
You've Got Blackmail on the other hand was a surprisingly fast and fun read. The main character finds herself in the midst of a blackmail scheme and A) doesn't know how she got there and B) isn't even sure who's being blackmailed ......or why......but she's determined to figure it out. Rachel Wright's story is fast paced and fluffy......totally fun to read!
October 21, 2011
In starting the book i was a little concerned that it was going to be boaring but in the middle the climax started to rise && was getting better && as you keep reading it will get more & more intesting
February 13, 2012
it was kinda slow but i got through it in a couple days good job on keeping the blackmailer a secret through the book and not making it totaly obviouse. it was a pretty good book. and i read the WHOLE thing in a british accent!! lolz!
January 15, 2014
This was probably one of the worst books I've ever read. She puts so much English slang that no one over there uses. It was cheesy, cliche, and predictable and felt like it was written from the point of a ten year old girl.
May 21, 2009
Funny, quick read. Bridget Jones-esque with a small mystery. Really though, it's about Loz, her spasiness, and her awesome friends.
June 22, 2009
It wasn't what I was expecting. At all. It had it's funny moments and it was a quick read. I feel that it could have been better had it been a bit longer, though.
April 13, 2010
I hated the reading style of this book because I felt like a young girl again while reading it. The point of it is a YOUNG ADULT book, and it is written like a children's.
June 17, 2010
Surprisingly good. It was better than i thought. It would be..... A little predictable,, but still good
July 1, 2010
At first, when there were so many storylines going on at once, I thought it would just make the book better. But, I was wrong.
November 29, 2010
The book was not horrible but the who story seemed somewhat weak.
Want to read
October 20, 2010didn't start yet lol :)
August 18, 2011
Very good!!!!!!!!!!
A nice mystery filled with surprises!!!!!!!
A nice mystery filled with surprises!!!!!!!
November 26, 2011
Loved it, but nothing about it really stood out.
May 17, 2015
interesting, kept my attention
September 15, 2015
not much great
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews