Yago wants to use his computer skills to earn extra cash to help his family, but something goes horribly wrong. His teacher, the greatest hacker in the country, is imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit and an innocent girl is blackmailed. So begin the adventures in Hackerteen.

Written by Marcel Marques and the Hackerteen Team, Hackerteen: Internet Blackout, Volume 1 is O’Reilly’s first graphic novel written for young readers. By following the exploits of Yago and friends, readers learn about basic computing and Internet topics, including the potential for victimization. The book is also ideal for parents and teachers who want their children and students to understand the risks of using the Internet and the proper ways to behave online.

For young people, the Internet is amazing because it opens up new worlds, but not all of them are safe. While kids are communicating online with their friends, they could be leaving themselves open to viruses, identify theft, and all the creeps on the Web. They need to know what they’re doing and, more important, what other people could be up to.

Readers will follow Yago and his hacker buddies in their fight against the bad guys of the Internet world, and will learn

• How Internet technologies work
• How some people try to hurt others online
• Key ways to protect oneself online
• How people can work together on the Internet to make the world a better place

In the real world, Hackerteen is an educational project in Brazil that teaches adolescents about computer network security, entrepreneurship on the Internet, and hacker ethics. Its innovative methods include challenges, games, RPGs, Linux, and comics. Three growing social problems provided the motivation for establishing Hackerteen:

1. Excessive time spent by young people surfing and playing computer games on the Internet
2. Young people committing digital crimes on the Internet or being blackmailed
3. A growing lack of professionals who work with networks and computer security.