The Arsonist

May 15, 2017
Fire forges historical and contemporary connections among three troubled teens. The three teen narrators could easily star in their own books. Instead, their voices and lives intertwine in an implausible plot full of coincidences and conveniently chatty villains. Rebellious white redhead Molly Mavity writes sarcastic, tense-shifting letters to her friend Pepper, who lies in a coma. Molly, whose arsonist father will soon be executed, is convinced her mother is alive--despite her suicide. Ibrahim "Pepper" Al-Yusef, a Kuwaiti immigrant with epilepsy and a comic-relief seizure pug, wryly weaves his views on everything from friendship to racism into a series of essays assigned by a long-suffering teacher as a condition of graduation. Both gradually reveal how they followed a stranger's clues to Berlin in search of Ava Dreyman, a teen from the former East Germany who became an Anne Frank-esque symbol for the fall of the Berlin Wall. Ava, whose diary of resisting the Stasi, escaping to America, and finding romance ends with her murder in 1989, connects Molly and Pepper in a far-flung way. Though Ava's accounts of oppression are chilling, Pepper's awkwardness is endearing, and Molly's grief is brutal, the mastermind's far-fetched scheme and Molly and Pepper's improbable stunts in Berlin ultimately muffle the strong voices of all three characters. A convoluted mystery that flavors the darkness of Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity (2012) with the contrivances of Scooby Doo. (Mystery. 14-18)

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July 1, 2017

Gr 8 Up-Molly's 17th summer does not have an auspicious beginning. With her foot in a cast after a run-in with a train and multiple surgeries, her father's execution for committing arson scheduled in a few weeks, and her disbelief that her mother committed suicide three years ago, the teen decides that this is the summer to discover the truth about the enigmatic German dissident Ava Dreyman, whom she studied in school, and to find her mother. If Pepper Al-Yusef wants to graduate from high school, he must write a series of essays over the summer as well as deal with his epilepsy, his eccentric father, and Petra, the girl of his dreams. Molly receives a mysterious message that directs her to Pepper with the words, "He has all the answers," and Pepper decides to join her in her quest. Their odyssey to resolve Molly's questions results in Molly and Pepper learning truths about their family histories and mysteries-and a serious head injury that puts Pepper in a coma. Their stories are told through letters from Molly to Pepper as he lies in a coma, the essays Pepper writes so he can graduate, and Ava's diary. The complex plot is fraught with unlikely coincidences; dangerous confrontations, lies and secrets, and leaps back and forth in time. The unique characters and compelling stories intertwine, sometimes seamlessly and sometimes awkwardly. The lengthy volume is a page-turner with frequent surprises and a little romance. Those willing to suspend disbelief will find this an exciting read. VERDICT A strong choice for suspense and thriller collections.-Janet Hilbun, University of North Texas, Denton

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