How to Lead a Life of Crime

December 24, 2012
Ever since running away from military school, 17-year-old Flick has been making ends meet as a thief on the streets of New York City; his eventual goal is to avenge the death of his brother. After a heist, Flick is recruited to join the prestigious Mandel Academy, a private school whose actual purpose is to train kids in everything from extortion to murder. Flick sees this as a chance to hone his skills and gain access to his abusive criminal father (who is on the board of directors), but he gets caught up in internal politics, especially after some of his fellow students die during training. Miller (The Eternal Ones) is fully aware that she’s making use of some familiar clichés and tropes (Flick calls the school “Hogwarts for hustlers,” at one point), but she keeps every character—from Flick’s Faginesque girlfriend to the
calculating head of the school—grounded and believable, giving the story’s horrors substantial impact. The resulting book often violently belies its cute title, in ways that will have readers racing to the end. Ages 14–up. Agent: William Morris Endeavor.

December 15, 2012
A teen pickpocket attends a school for the criminally minded. Tough, 17-year-old loner Flick lives on the streets of Manhattan's Lower East Side and makes ends meet by relieving the upper class of their wallets. His only ally is a teen girl named Joi, who operates an underground rescue camp for homeless teens and wields surgical tools like a pro. Enter well-dressed, smooth-talking Lucian Mandel, the headmaster of the infamous Mandel Academy, who makes him an offer he can't refuse: If Flick agrees to enroll in Mandel Academy, Lucian will hand over the evidence that connects Flick's wealthy father to the murder of his brother. Flick agrees, and he soon finds himself immersed in a student body of teen sociopathic murderers, liars, thieves and embezzlers--all embroiled in a violent race to the top of the class. Miller pens an enjoyable, fast-paced action novel that's full of danger, mystery, humor and violence, with lots of gross-out scenes and plenty of hairpin-turn plot twists that will keep readers guessing. Her only misstep in this exciting read is an overdose of references to Barrie's Peter Pan, but readers will still make the right connections to the characters and probably devour the novel in one setting. An enigmatic page turner full of intrigue. (Adventure. 14 & up)

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March 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-Having run away from his privileged background, Flick survives by being a pickpocket on the streets of New York while planning revenge on his father for the death of his beloved younger brother and his mother's resulting suicide. He has a place to sleep and food to eat thanks to Joi, a mysterious girl who acts as protector to a group of runaways. Flick loves Joi and admires her, though he doesn't understand her generosity; for him, counting on and caring for others is a weakness. After a well-dressed man named Lucian Mandel asks him to break into an apartment and Flick succeeds, Lucian offers the teen a scholarship to the Mandel Academy, promising to give him proof of his father's guilt at graduation. Flick agrees, but has second thoughts when he realizes that the school prepares students to become powerful criminals through training in assassination, drug-dealing, blackmail, etc. He soon realizes that students who do not graduate disappear, permanently. When Mandel enrolls Joi, Flick is willing to give his life to keep her safe and get her out. The subject matter might appeal to reluctant readers, but the intricate plot and length will discourage most. It would also be expected that there would be a gritty realism to the vocabulary, so the constant modification of a certain four letter word into an "expletive deleted" type of format is not only jarring, but irritating. Purchase where the author's other titles are popular.-Suanne B. Roush, Osceola High School, Seminole, FL

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2013
Grades 9-12 To escape his father's beatings and to protect his younger brother, Flick has kept busy as a pickpocket on the streets of Manhattan's Lower East Side. His only refuge is Joi (pronounced Joey ), a young woman who steals to feed street urchins. Enter Lucian Mandel, the proprietor of Mandel Academy, a prestigious school that takes troubled kids off the street and teaches them how to become rich and famous by unscrupulous means. Mandel solicits Flick to win a bet with Flick's fatherand it doesn't take Flick long to realize what happens to students who don't succeed. The plot thickens as Mandel brings Joi in with the next group of recruits; she wins their confidence even as she strives to topple Mandel. Even with twists, turns, some macabre scenes, and occasional raw language, this will grab teen readers just as Miller's Kiki Strike books grabbed middle-grade students. A thick, satisfying read that ought to keep readers up late.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)