Saturday, January 8, 2011

Grant, Vicki. Comeback

Grant, Vicki. Comeback
Orca 2010 132 9.95
978-1-55469-310-8 hs Realistic Fiction E-BN

Ria’s father disappears and is presumed dead when his small plane crashes. His swindles of friends and relatives money through his stock brokerage business leaves Ria in turmoil. She and her small brother run away with disastrous results. Grades 8+
Ria has a charmed life. Her family is wealthy, she has a great boyfriend, and she is a good student. Her mother insists on separating from her father and moves the kids to a small apartment. Ria continues to see her suave, easy talking father and hatches a plan to move herself and her small brother into her father’s new home. Before she can broach the move to her father, he takes a business trip, piloting his own small airplane. The news that his plane has crashed in a lake and he is presumed dead rattles Ria’s world. She can’t believe he is dead and is offended by those who come to express sympathy. As news of her father’s swindling money from his stock brokerage’s clients surfaces, Ria can’t face her friends or her boyfriend who turn against her because their families have lost all their life savings. To get away from it all, she takes her small brother and goes for a drive that continues late into the night and on into the next morning. With very little money, she makes poor choices and ends up in an abandoned summer camp. When her brother has an asthma attack, she realizes she is in need of help. When Ria’s dad calls (yes, he is still alive) her on her cell phone, she realizes he is both concerned and a criminal. Realistic dialogue and excellent character development accompany a fast-paced plot. Great for a hi/lo reader. For grades 8-12.
Strongly recommended, grades 8-12, especially for schools in the suburbs. A headline topic of investment brokers misusing client’s money. Realistic dialogue and a fast-paced plot tackles the fallout that affects the families of a corrupt stockbroker .. McNicol(3),Lois

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