Launch of a new series for upper middle graders about a girl who has lived as an international thief, now returned to the real world.
Frankie Lorde and her dad have been a team for as long as Frankie can remember. Being a tutor under the man responsible for some of the world’s biggest heists has given Frankie a unique perspective on the world. And a special set of life skills. Frankie can spot an FBI agent in a second. Pick a lock in two seconds. Steal a Bugatti in three. Then dad is arrested.
Frankie is sent to live with her uncle, her dad’s brother who she barely knows, and is, ironically a cop. Now Frankie has to go to middle school, learn what suburban kids wear and eat. But also ironically, Frankie is in Greenwich, CT, one of the richest towns in America. Seeing the starkness of super rich and the super not rich who support the community gives Frankie an idea. How to use her skills for doing good, to even the score. . . .
People say writing in journals can be therapeutic. Well, at least that’s what my therapist says. I just think it’s an easy way for other people to find out all your secrets.
And seriously, who wants that?
But alas, my therapist, Dr. Janine Deerchuck—yep, that’s really her name—thinks it would be “beneficial” to me if I kept one, so here we are.
She’s suggested that I use this journal to write down all my hopes, and dreams, and fears, and blah, blah, blah . . . I figure if I’m going to do this, I’ll use it as a record of every awesome thing I’ve ever done. And when I’m finished filling up every last lined page in this black-and-white notebook, I’ll send it to my dad to let him know what I’ve been up to since he went away.
And that’s what brings us to Dr. Deerchuck and this journal in the first place:
Dear old Dad.
Don’t get me wrong, my dad is awesome. He’s one of the smartest, coolest, greatest dads on the planet. He’s practically raised me all on his own, and has taken me to places that other kids don’t even know exist—like Tanzania and Cat Island. He lets me stay up late, his favorite food
is pancakes, and he doesn’t even care if I occasionally sneak-watch Game of Thrones.
He should be in the Hall of Fame of dads, right? In reality? Not so much.
But he is famous. Just not for his mad dad skills.
Review
The discussion that went on between Practical Me (PM) and Book Nerd ME (BNM) when I saw this title come up for review.
BNM: Holy crap!!!!
PM: No. We don’t have time. Our review schedule is already tight, and we’ve got so much else to do.
BNM: Holy crap!!! Middle-grade with thieves!!!
PM: Hello? You listening? We don’t have time.
BNM: We need to read this right now!
PM: It does look cool…no. Not enough time.
BNM: We’re totally reading this!
PM: No, we aren’t. We can’t. We really—
BNM: We’re signed up for October 30!
PM: *sigh* I guess we’ll have to make time. *internally squeals in delight*
And the book didn’t disappoint either Practical Me or Book Nerd Me at all.
I loved this. Middle-grade is my happy place as it is, so when I saw a book about an international thief forced to attend middle school, I literally couldn’t resist. Frankie’s voice is authentic and fun. The pacing is perfect. And Oli, wonderful Oli, and his outfits are just fantastic. The only thing wrong with this is that it wasn’t longer, but at the same time, more might have spoiled the excellent balance of everything. I just didn’t want it to end.
Speaking of endings (without spoilers), so many questions left to explore and adventures implied. How will Frankie and Oli grow in future books? I’m already in love with Frankie for how she changed in the final pages. This series is going on my must-read list, and I’ll be here, not-so-patiently waiting for the next one.
Brittany Geragotelis is living the dream. After 10 years of rejection from the publishing industry, she began to post her original novel, Life’s a Witch, on the online writing site, Wattpad, hoping that others would enjoy reading her book. A year after the first upload, the book had received 19 million reads, which caught the attention of Publisher’s Weekly, The Huffington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
After building up some buzz in the industry, she hooked up with her agents who instantly received interest from publishers and movie/tv producers. Within weeks, Life’s a Witch went into auction between four major publishing houses, and in the end Brittany landed a 3-book deal with publishing powerhouse, Simon & Schuster. Find her online at http://www.brittanygeragotelis.com
To check out other stops on this tour, visit the tour page here.
All the opinions expressed in this review are my own. Read the full disclosure here.