Grant, Vicki. Triggered.

Grant, Vicki.  Triggered.  Orca  2013  122p  $9.95    ISBN 978-1-4598-0526-2    ms/hs     Conflict   VG-BN

In this story of a romance turned sour, the chapters alternate between the two lead characters’ points of view.  Mick wants to break off his romance with Jade, who is incredibly needy and irritating.  But by appealing to him to help her with her ailing little brother, she manages to hold on to Mick and undermine his burgeoning relationship with a new girl in their class.  Every time Mick thinks he is free of Jade, little brother Gavin has another severe migraine, and Mick is over at their apartment again.  Jade’s chapters are told in diary form, and she clearly is under the delusion that Mick still loves her and wants to attend the spring dance with her.  When we read Mick’s chapters, we get a look at what he is really thinking and how his concern for Gavin is genuinely keeping him involved with Jade.  The somewhat surprising ending will educate readers about a psychological condition that is all too real, Munchhausen syndrome by proxy.  Reluctant readers will keep turning those pages!          

Summary: Mick wants to break off his romance with Jade, but she makes it very difficult for him, and the fact that her little brother is counting on his continuing presence does not help the situation. 

Munchhausen Syndrome by Proxy-Fiction, Romance-Fiction            --Carol Kennedy

Grant, Michael. Eve and Adam.

Grant, Michael.   Eve and Adam.     Macmillan/ Feiwel & Friends   291p  $17.99 978-0-312-58351-4      2012  hs    VG-BN       Science Fiction

Eve Spiker is severely injured in a car crash and is in a hospital when her mother sweeps in and takes her almost immediately to her private lab facility.  Here, Eve rapidly recovers (unnaturally so) and with the aid of her mother’s ward (and would-be genius lab assistant) Solo learns more about herself and the work being conducted at Spiker Biopharmaceuticals.

In this very interesting novel that brings genetics and biotechnology to the fore, Eve and Solo work together to uncover the heinous genetic research that has been conducted at Spiker Pharmaceuticals; research that makes the eugenics of WWII pale by comparison.  Ethics and family dynamics seriously come into play in the story, in which intrigue and romance play a role in Eve and Solo’s relationship, as well as in that of Eve’s friend Aislin and the genetically perfect Adam, who Eve created when she was playing with newly developed software.  References to sex, drugs, and alcohol, as well as some violence, make this a YA book for high school students and possibly adults.  Questions of ethics and morals presented in the novel will also ring true for adult readers of YA novels.       

Genetic Engineering–Fiction                                --Lynn Fisher

Grant, Vicki. B Negative.

Grant, Vicki.      B Negative.  

Orca  2011  125p  9.95  978-1-55469-841-7
 hs  Realistic Fiction       E-BN  

The physical exam Paddy takes in preparation for joining the Army reveals 

secrets that threaten to destroy his family.               

Paddy is drifting through life, not really sure about what he wants to do with

it.  Pursue music? Get a job? Take classes at the community college? 

          Seventeen-year-old Paddy loves his family, but not his stepfather

Anthony.  Anthony calls Paddy’s bluff when Paddy threatens to join the Army. 

When Paddy takes the physical exam and learns his blood type, it becomes clear

that the man he has always thought of as his biological parent, is not, and now

he must question all that he thought he knew.

           The cover art will capture readers’ attention, but the brief,

compelling story will snag readers’ thoughts and have them turning pages as

quickly as they can read.  With more than fifty percent of marriages ending in

divorce, the family characters shown here are spare, but believable as low-

income, struggling, and imperfect. Readers may identify with these gritty

characters.

          While predictable, the plot may spark debate about reasons people join

the military or what it takes to be a (good) parent. Grant does not flinch away

from the unvarnished reaction Paddy’s (not-related) father has to the news that

Paddy is not his son. The open ending doesn’t resolve into a tidy “happy ending.”  

          A sequel detailing basic training, once Paddy is inducted into the

Army, would make a good follow up to this short novel that will certainly have

readers asking for another “like” this one.

                  Welliver, Hilary

Grant, Helen The Vanishing of Katherine Linden

Grant, Helen The Vanishing of Katherine Linden
Delacorte see Random 2009 287p 24.00
978-0-385-34417-3 hs/adult Missing children, horror thriller VG


Pia becomes an outcast when her grandmother “explodes,” overshadowing the sudden disappearance of first Katharina Linden, and the other children in the small German village of Bad Münstereifel, which Pia begins to investigate.
A rare delight of a first novel that will appeal to both adult and young adult audiences. The characterization is outstanding, the writing lyrical, yet dark and forboding. Touches of supernatural glint on the edges of the narrative and the mystery is challenging and first rate. That the protagonist, Pia, is only 10 has no bearing on the enjoyment of the story by many age groups. In many ways, this is reminiscent of Flavia de Luce, Alan Bradley’s dauntless 11-year-old sleuth (The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, 2009 and The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag, 2010). Quirky, many-layered and a mystery readers will not want to put down, from the grandmother’s spontaneous combustion at the beginning of the book until the truly scary ending. The light tone of the narration belies the frightening and sinister character of the story. Not for younger readers, but satisfying and engaging for older ones. A delightful horror story.

This novel had just been selected for the 2011 Alex Award. Mystery/Detective Naismith, Pat

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

Grant, K. M. White Heat

Grant, K. M. White Heat
Walker & Co 2009 260p 16.99 978-0-8027-9695-0 ms/hs Raimon, having escaped being burned as a heretic, gives up the search for his lover, Yolanda, and joins Sir Parsifal in the Occitan rebellion against the French takeover of Languedoc. Book 2 of the Perfect Fire Trilogy concentrates more on the characters than the historical conflict. Grant weaves the historical fact of the century Albigensian crusade into the fiber of this seemingly doomed love story. Raimon, gives up searching for Yolanda, and agrees to help Sir Parsifal, the Keeper of the Blue Flame to fight against the French forces trying to take over Languedoc (Occitan). Yolanda, in the meantime, fearing Raimon dead, is taken off to Paris, where she agrees to marry Sir Hugh des Arcis. Sir Hugh turns out to be a much kinder character than he seemed in The Blue Flame, and this change sets up a love triangle, and a showdown for the third book in the trilogy. The characters become stronger in this volume, and the dangers of the rebellion, Raimon’s trials and Yolanda’s ambiguity make for a thrilling and compelling ride back to the 13th century. Well-researched, well-told story that will keep readers of the first volume eagerly awaiting the third and final volume in the trilogy. This volume can stand on its own, but readers will want to go back and read the first volume. Historical Naismith, Pat

Kidnapped in a graphic novel format

Grant, Alan. Kidnapped: retold by Alan Grant.
Tundra Books, 2007. 64p $11.95 978-0-88776-843-9
Graphic novel

This graphic novel treatment of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic _Kidnapped_ has the right ingredients to appeal to reluctant readers: outstanding illustrations, a pared down plot and a varied layout that focuses on swordfights, shipwrecks, and treachery. The plot is faithful to the original, and while some readers may gloss over the political background between Scotland and England, the adventures of David Balfour will hold their attention to the final page. The illustrations are detailed, with colors used to great effect for setting the scene. Many young readers eschew the classics; well-done graphic novels such as this title are a wonderful introduction to classic literature. RZ