OH, NO ... HACKED AGAIN!
by Zinet Kemal
A girl learns a lesson about not sharing her online passwords in this picture book from cybersecurity professional Kemal.
Eight-year-old Elham loves playing games on Zokanda, an online platform that uses Coin, a virtual currency, for special in-game features. But when she takes a suspicious online survey to earn Coin, she has to provide her username and password, and soon she’s locked out of the game. At first, she doesn’t want to tell her mom, but she remembers how her parent saved the day when her older brother was hacked. They come up with strategies to keep Elham’s account more secure—and to help her make better choices. Elham then dreams of being a cybersecurity expert who helps other kids. Kemal uses the experiences and names of her children to create a realistic cautionary tale. It employs accessible vocabulary in a child’s voice, and the message feels more like receiving advice from a friend than being scolded. In semirealistic cartoon illustrations, Izmaylova depicts Kemal and her family, who are Black, with a keen eye for details of their Ethiopian Muslim heritage; both the mom and the older version of Elham are shown wearing hijabs.
A story with a clear message and smart coverage of a timely topic.