Friday, July 31, 2009

Alibi Junior High (from www.teensreadtoo.com)

Thirteen-year-old Cody doesn’t know much about normal life. He’s been living and traveling all over the world with his father, who works for the CIA. Together, they’ve formed a research team responsible for tracking the
bad guys. But, someone’s caught on. An explosion outside a café in France, where they barely escape with their lives, leaves the team shaken. Cody’s father puts him on a plane and tells him to become invisible until he reaches his destination. Cody’s headed somewhere safe from danger: his aunt’s house. He’s infiltrating junior high, where he must assume his most challenging role ever – himself. Cody’s used to being home-schooled by his father, wearing suits every day, and defending himself against anyone who looks at him funny. Now he’s dealing with school rules, clothes that are cool but don’t feel right, and bullies plaguing him and his friend. Cody has a feeling that somewhere, someone is watching him. At night he takes sweeps of the house, only to find that his new friend’s brother, who just came home from the war, does the same thing. Together, they keep tabs on the area. Is Cody paranoid? Has he finally found a place to call home or will someone make the family connection and come
after him?

Greg Logsted writes a quirky but lovable character who just wants to be himself. I liked the witty smart aleck personality of Cody. This book takes a spy and places him in the normal world – without a mission, making this a unique tale. As a sucker for spy novels, I hope this isn’t the last I read about Cody Saron.


Librarian tip: This would make a fun book club read. I'm already trying to figure out how I can use it this year.

Plus the cover rocks. Check out the cover story @ Melissa Walker's blog.

For more info about Greg, check out his interview with Kay Cassidy

3 comments:

Kay Cassidy said...

What synchronicity, Jennifer! I'm featuring Greg for an Author Spotlight on the You 2.0 blog today, so I just updated it with a link to your review. :-)

Readingjunky said...

Can't wait to read this one. It sounds like a winner. You mentioned it as a book club possibility - how do you think it would work as a read aloud for say 8th grade?

RJ

Jennifer Rummel said...

I think it would work for a read aloud!