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BLACK TAXI

Name: BLACK TAXI
Author: James Moloney
ISBN: 0-06-055937-3

by James Moloney ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2005

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From Australia comes a zippy mystery that pits a high-school senior against a ruthless millionaire. Rosie feels trapped in a dumpy, nowhere town. When her larcenous grandfather finally lands in jail, he turns over his classic black Mercedes to Rosie for safekeeping. She soon learns she has to run numerous errands for Grandpa’s elderly friends, but also that a valuable stolen diamond ring may be hidden in the car. While trying to juggle relationships with two highly desirable boys, the handsome, wealthy, terminally nice Todd and the hunky, racy Chris, she eludes the minions of a serious criminal who’s trying to recover the ring. Moloney keeps the story suspenseful, even including a car chase, yet develops full-blown, realistic characters, especially spunky Rosie and Grandpa’s quirky friends. It’s a large cut above the usual teen mystery. (Fiction. 12-14)

Pub Date: March 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-06-055937-3

Page Count: 272

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2005

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY & THRILLER | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FAMILY

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TRASH

by Andy Mulligan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 12, 2010

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In an unnamed country (a thinly veiled Philippines), three teenage boys pick trash for a meager living. A bag of cash in the trash might be—well, not their ticket out of poverty but at least a minor windfall. With 1,100 pesos, maybe they can eat chicken occasionally, instead of just rice. Gardo and Raphael are determined not to give any of it to the police who've been sniffing around, so they enlist their friend Rat. In alternating and tightly paced points of view, supplemented by occasional other voices, the boys relate the intrigue in which they're quickly enmeshed. A murdered houseboy, an orphaned girl, a treasure map, a secret code, corrupt politicians and 10,000,000 missing dollars: It all adds up to a cracker of a thriller. Sadly, the setting relies on Third World poverty tourism for its flavor, as if this otherwise enjoyable caper were being told by Olivia, the story's British charity worker who muses with vacuous sentimentality on the children that "break your heart" and "change your life." Nevertheless, a zippy and classic briefcase-full-of-money thrill ride. (Thriller. 12-14)

Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-385-75214-5

Page Count: 240

Publisher: David Fickling/Random

Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY & THRILLER

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THE AMAH

by Laurence Yep ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1999

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Revisiting characters from The Cook’s Family (1998), Yep again explores personal and cultural conflicts arising between the generations in a Chinese-American family. Suddenly saddled with caring for four younger siblings after a wealthy businessman hires her widowed mother as a governess—or amah—for his daughter, Stephanie, Amy Chin is forced to miss several ballet rehearsals for Cinderella, to listen to glowing accounts of Stephanie’s sophistication, and to accept expensive clothing and other gifts from her. While gaining new insight into how Cinderella’s stepsisters must have felt, Amy’s understandable resentment is compounded by the news that Stephanie will be moving in while her father is away on a trip. Yep builds that feeling to fever pitch, then dispels it by casting Stephanie as a lonely child hurt by one parent’s death and the other’s neglect; becoming friends, Stephanie and Amy clear the air and mend some fences with their well-meaning parents in a climactic face-off. The characters, most of them familiar from previous appearances, are distinct if not particularly complex, the San Francisco setting is vividly drawn, and the issues are laid out in plain terms and tidily resolved. It’s formulaic, but not entirely superficial. (Fiction. 10-13)