A high-sky winner all the way from coast to coast.
A laugh-out-loud thriller about family court, money laundering and skyjacking.
Nobody can navigate an airport like April Mae Manning. Her deceased father was a pilot, her mother is a flight attendant, and her “lying, greedy, odious sociopath” of a stepfather is a pilot. With her mother in Atlanta and her stepfather in LA, MacGyver-loving April has logged some serious miles as an unaccompanied minor. Thanks to her insider knowledge, she can read a flight manifest and negotiate TSA lines like no ordinary civilian. This savvy stands her in good stead when she finds herself with best friend and fellow unaccompanied minor Malcolm, his emotional-support dog, a kindhearted cop escorting a crook and the crustiest flight attendant in history on an L-1011 with a bomb in its hold and a crew infiltrated with hijackers on board. The narrative takes the form of April’s report to the FBI and the National Transportation Safety Board following the incident, and it’s laced with April’s trenchant commentary on the vagaries of family court and the inequities of the conditions of airline employment. Former flight attendant Gillespie’s insider knowledge infuses April’s account with confident authority. Her impeccable comic timing and command of April’s oh-so-15-year-old voice carry the plot through several unlikely but carefully laid-out contortions that will leave readers (and some of April’s friends) in stitches.
A high-sky winner all the way from coast to coast. (Thriller. 12-16)Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4405-6773-5
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Merit Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
A proficient caper spiced up by Violet's eye for art
A van Gogh heist, a trip to Japan and a yakuza attack: Could there be a better summer?
Violet's an otaku—a comics-loving Japanophile, derided as a "Manga-loid" by her school's mean girls—who draws her own manga and makes scarves out of vintage kimonos. Her dreadful summer plans (working at the comic-book store) are delightfully derailed when she has to join her estranged artist father in Tokyo, where he's been commissioned to paint a mural. But what's this? Her father's employers have been relieved of three van Gogh drawings, and Violet knows just the suspicious characters who might be guilty! The plucky detective investigates in both Seattle and Tokyo, following suspects around town in a tangled blonde wig and deciphering codes incorporated in both art and kanji. Soon the mystery begins to resemble an episode of Violet's own manga, Kimono Girl, complete with dangerous yakuza (Japanese mobsters), blackmail letters and FBI stings. Eagle-eyed Violet's sleuthing is assisted by her keen love of art, from manga to van Gogh to ukiyo-e, Japanese woodblock prints.
A proficient caper spiced up by Violet's eye for art . (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-670-01332-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
An attempted twist on The Hunger Games
If the world is full of vampires, how do the humans survive?
Gene's a heper: one of the disgusting endangered species that sweats, can't see in the dark and don't have fangs. He's lived this long by disguising himself as a real person, never smiling or laughing or napping where he can be seen; gobbling bloody raw meat with his classmates; showing a stoic, expressionless face at all times. Appearing emotionless is trickier than usual when the nation announces a Heper Hunt. Every citizen of the nation will be entered into a lottery, and a lucky few will be selected to hunt the last remaining hepers to the death. When Gene is selected (of course Gene is selected), he's terrified: Training with the other lottery winners at the Heper Institute, he'll have no opportunity to scrub off the sweat, body hair, plaque and other evidence of his vile human nature. If the vampires realize there is a human among them, he'll be torn to pieces before he can blink. Luckily, Gene seems to have an unlikely ally at the Institute: Ashley June, a classmate of his who has secrets of her own. While the worldbuilding is thin and frequently nonsensical, this grotesque and bloody construction of a vampire world will appeal to readers who've been craving gore over romance with their vampires. Perhaps the sequel will bring the illogical parts together.
An attempted twist on The Hunger Games . (Paranormal adventure. 13-15)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-250-00514-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
