Cut Me Free

November 10, 2014
Piper has grown up living locked in her parents’ attic along with her younger brother, Sam; finally, at age 17 (she thinks) she escapes to Philadelphia, free for the first time, though she leave a trail of bloodshed behind her and carries no small amount of trauma with her. With the help of Cam, a handsome teen she hires to forge an ID and establish a new identity, Piper becomes Charlotte Thompson and tries to start over. That isn’t easy, especially after she meets a terrified girl in the park, obviously abused, who Charlotte feels compelled to rescue. Soon Charlotte is being hunted by someone who knows who she really is, and whose threats become increasingly terrifying. Johansson (Paranoia) never loses sight of her determination to instruct readers about the evils of human trafficking and child abuse, but her story suffers from sensationalism. Charlotte’s reasons for not seeking out or trusting the police are never fully justified, further stretching the limits of believability in this grim, brutal novel. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kathleen Rushall, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

October 15, 2014
After escaping abuse at the hands of her parents, one girl must fight to save herself and those closest to her from a new threat.Piper, 17, has fled the horrors of her parents' attic to make a new life in Philadelphia. A year after she left, the voice of her late little brother, Sam, echoes in her head, and the memory of the bloodshed she left in her wake haunts her. Trusting people is out of the question. Piper enlists the help of Cam, a tech wizard, to give her a new identity, and soon she's taken on the alias of Charlotte Thompson. But when she sees a little girl covered in bruises being dragged by a suspicious man, she's stung with flashes of her own violent past. Ensuring the girl's safety becomes her new focus. Soon ominous messages begin appearing at Piper's door and then inside her apartment. Someone's found Piper, and they want to play. Johansson creates a painfully real protagonist in Piper. When moments of light shine through the near-constant darkness, readers will feel the surge of hope too. But the relationship between Piper and Cam reads less as passionate and more as situational; their constant clashes grow tiresome in an already bleak book. A thriller tracing the evolution of a strong-willed protagonist as she rallies against the demons of her past, dampened by forced romance. (Thriller. 12-18)

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November 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-In this breathless, melodramatic escape fantasy, a profoundly traumatized teenage girl manages to exorcise her demons, vanquish an evil human trafficker, and find true love. Seventeen-year-old Piper escaped from The Parents, a junky mother and sadistic, abusive father, but she wasn't able to save her little brother, who now lives as a voice in her head. She resides in Philadelphia under an assumed name and identity that she purchased from Cameron, a handsome, devoted, nonthreatening hacker with ties to the Mafia. With her experienced eye, Piper observes an older man and young girl walk through the park, and deduces that the girl is being brutally mistreated in similar ways to what she survived. The protagonist engineers a daring rescue to save the girl, named Sanda, from a life of servitude. Sanda and Piper start trying to build a life together, but Piper is stalked and threatened by Sanda's former abuser, who managed to survive Piper's attack. The teen has to save herself, Sanda, and Cameron from an insane torturer with a fetish for blood. In the acknowledgments, the author gives some background information about human trafficking and her underlying goal to raise awareness about the issue. With over-the-top present-tense narration and dramatic descriptions of torture and human slavery, this novel will appeal to readers with a taste for sensationalism.-Kyle Lukoff, Corlears School, New York City

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2014
Grades 8-12 Seventeen-year-old Charlotte has spent most of her life locked up in an attic with her younger brother, Sam, both of them suffering horrific physical and verbal abuse at the hands of their parents. After her father kills Sam, she finds a way to escape and hires dashing young techie Cam to create a new identity for her. After she meets a young girl, Sandra, a fellow victim, Charlotte is on her way to building a safe family unit, even allowing herself to recognize her attraction to Cam. Johansson's tense psychological thriller calls to mind Emma Donoghue's Room (2010); both feature resilient characters escaping abusive parents who hold them hostage for years, and both stories, moving at a fevered pitch, are likely to keep readers awake all night. However, Charlotte's longing for love and acceptance will also draw and satisfy romance readers, as well as those who appreciate mysteries. Richly developed characters, swift pacing, and a present-tense narrative plunge the reader effectively into the moment, while Johansson's empathy for victims of domestic abuse draws attention to an important issue.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)