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GIRL ON THE RUN

Fast and intense, this is a galloping thriller with something extra for romantics.

The opening scenes set the pace for this stomach-clencher of a chase.

Katelyn’s mother, Melissa, doesn’t want anyone to know her business, and they move often. Why is not clear. Katelyn, ignorant of her mother’s motives, creates an online dating profile for Melissa, blowing their cover. Melissa’s words as she hectically starts packing bags are ominous: “They found us.” Katelyn knows things are serious when Melissa steals their elderly neighbor’s vehicle to use as a getaway car. Narrated in the first person by Katelyn, the story keeps readers as much in the dark as she is. To keep her safe, Melissa leaves Katelyn in a motel room while she goes off to deal with things, leaving Katelyn to untangle a somewhat overblown tale of thwarted love and a cold-case murder. Her first clue appears along with a brutal bounty hunter who busts into her room. Katelyn escapes and, in the process, rescues computer whiz Malcolm, whom the bounty hunter has kidnapped for his tech skills. Malcolm, who is Black in a default White cast, is able to tell Katelyn why Melissa is being sought. Together, the duo enters a cat-and-mouse game, trying to locate Melissa while staying one step ahead of the bounty hunter. The chapters are short, featuring terse chapter titles—“Flee,” “Evade,” “Hostage”—and each ends with a cliffhanger, making this page-turner appealing and accessible for reluctant readers.

Fast and intense, this is a galloping thriller with something extra for romantics. (Thriller. 12-16)

Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-593-17981-9

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Underlined

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020

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RIPPER

While some may guess the plot twist, Petrucha nonetheless provides both a well-crafted romp through yesteryear’s New York...

Has Jack the Ripper moved across the Atlantic to terrorize Gilded Age New York City?

For 14-year-old Carver Young, growing up as an orphan in 1895 New York isn't easy, though it gives him plenty of opportunities to practice lock picking, sleuthing and eavesdropping. When he’s chosen as an apprentice by Pinkerton detective Albert Hawking, Carver finds boundless opportunities to learn the detective trade, especially when he assists Hawking on the hunt for a serial killer in New York City. Carver dives into the case, turning to Delia, his best friend from the orphanage, for assistance with research, as her adoptive parents have access to the archives of The New York Times. As the clues mount, Carver discovers the killer might be Jack the Ripper, and that Jack may have a clue to Carver’s parents. Petrucha does an excellent job developing historic New York as a character in the city, though a map or two would not be amiss. Well-rounded characters, both teen and adult, help to gloss over occasional lapses in the credibility of the dialogue. Pacing is smooth, blending coming-of-age with mystery and action.

While some may guess the plot twist, Petrucha nonetheless provides both a well-crafted romp through yesteryear’s New York and an enticing companion for it. (Historical mystery. 12-15)

Pub Date: March 1, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-399-25524-3

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012

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THE PRICE OF LOYALTY

Insurmountably flawed.

When peer pressure draws seventh grader Manny into a gang with his Latino friends, he must make difficult decisions.

Life in elementary school was simple compared to the first weeks at Orbe Nuevo Middle School. Mexican-American Manny and his childhood friends have inexplicably formed the Conquistadors. In quick succession, his friends are shaving their heads, tagging bridges, starting fights and looking for trouble. Manny, conflicted by an inner dialogue that rarely matches his actions, shaves his head but manages to stay on the periphery of the book’s prejudice, violence and profanity. Soon, his friends have talked him into buying marijuana on credit from another student. Within months, the other boys have switched from “herb” to meth. A final fight leaves two boys hospitalized and forces Manny to decide who his friends really are. Conveniently, Castan supplies a girlfriend and a new African-American neighbor. In this heavy-handed treatise against gangs and drug use, the debut novelist perpetuates the same negative images that Latino teens face daily in the media. The text is an onslaught of Latino caricatures: gullible, unemployed women cooking in the kitchen, abusive, alcoholic men running illegal businesses and young adult males serving time in prison. For a realistic and well-written novel with similar themes, try Victor Martinez’s Parrot in the Oven (1996).

Insurmountably flawed. (Fiction. 12-15)

Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-8234-2268-5

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: July 5, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2011

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