Finn, Katie. Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold.

Finn, Katie.  Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold.  Macmillan/ Feiwel & Friends  2015  389p  $17.99  ISBN 978-1-250-04525-6 ms/hs  Realistic Fiction   VG

At the fiasco of July 4th night, at the end of the novel Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things To Mend, Gemma found out that her ex-best-friend Hallie knew her true identity all along and that it was Hallie who stole Teddy from her. This sequel picks up at that very point and takes off with the girls’ revenge schemes throughout the course of their entire summer in the Hamptons.  Gemma is forced by her father to take a job scooping ice cream for the remainder of the summer, the only job left in town.  She tries to make amends to Hallie, but the plot quickly turns to vengeance on both girls’ part.  As Gemma tries to convince Teddy that Hallie has ulterior motives for the relationship, Gemma’s crush Ford arrives in the Hamptons.  Additionally, Josh refuses to speak to Gemma because she lied to him, and as Gemma begins to believe she has won the revenge war she receives an upsetting blow that could change her life.

In this fast-paced sequel, Katie Finn has created a fun read that will appeal to adolescent girls, as the story revolves around teenage drama, revenge and jealousy.  This light read picks up where Broken, Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend leaves off and provides enough information from the previous story to be read as a stand-alone book.  However, the excitement and drama will require readers to go back and read the first novel for details of the events of the summer leading up to the devastating July 4th night.  The good news at the end of this book is that the third book in this riveting series will be coming out in 2017!

This book is recommended for any middle- or high-school library and will appeal to young-adult readers.

Summary: After the devastating July 4th when Gemma finds out that Hallie, her ex-best-friend, knew her true identity all along and that Hallie was the one that stole Teddy from her, Gemma is forced to find a job, and the girls spend a revenge-filled summer trying to outdo each other’s pranks and antics.    

Friendship-Fiction, Rivalry-Fiction             --Virginia McGarvey

Finn, Daniel She Thief

Finn, Daniel She Thief
Feiwel&Friends/Macmillan 2010 295p 16.99
978-0-312-56330-1 jr/sr VG
Thieving is a precarious existence. It is imperative to have someone you trust at your back. When Baz and Demi steal a valuable ring, it becomes apparent that they have been set-up and betrayed.
Demi and Baz have been a team ever since Demi found young Baz abandoned in the Barrio of a gritty Latin American city. Demi brings Baz to Fay, an adult who shelters and trains a gang of child thieves. Eventually Baz become the lookout for Demi, a master pickpocket. A lucky theft of a valuable ring becomes the catalyst for a power struggle between the barrio’s crime lord and a newcomer who plots a barrio takeover. In a setting where it is imperative to have someone you trust at your back, it soon becomes apparent to Baz that she and Demi have been betrayed.

The plot is promising, but readers may experience some disappointment when no romance develops between Baz and Demi. The author dances around this situation, but nothing develops. Also, the use of dialect may detract from some readers’ enjoyment of the dialogue. The action sequences are the best parts of the book -- although the all-important ring theft does not take place until the reader has worked through several chapters.

This book appears to be a re-issue of “Two Good Thieves” the debut novel by the same author. The new title, “She Thief,” is misleading, as Baz is the lookout, not the thief (more of an accessory to the crime). The new cover is intended to appeal to an older teen audience than the original book.

Readers enjoying fights and chases will enjoy the gritty back street barrio action of this South American urban fiction. Welliver, Hilary
Barrio; Crime - fiction