On a LARP

May 1, 2017

Gr 7 Up-On a class trip to a police station, Sidonie Rubin offers key insight into a murder case when she notices the victim in a crime scene photo looks like she was participating in a live action role-playing game, or LARP. When Det. Emma Macdonald asks for assistance, Sid can't resist and recruits her eclectic group of friends to help. While keeping up with school activities, the teens use their tech skills to search the victim's computer. They work to figure out the LARP connection and come up with plans to infiltrate the next LARP to find the killer. Taking place in New York City, the novel kicks off with Sid seemingly plummeting to her death, but it takes the time to catch readers up on how she got to that point. While the protagonist questions the group's involvement with the murder investigation, her faith in her own brilliance guarantees that she won't stop solving mysteries and that more adventures are on the way. The book is full of tech and nerd talk, but Sid and friends translate for those in need of an explanation. Sprinkled throughout are also contemporary YA novel concerns, such as Sid's crushes on various girls. Teens may be baffled by 1980s references in a work of modern-day realistic fiction, but these instances won't distract them from the overall plot. Deoul has put together a fast-paced narrative that doesn't slow down until the story wraps up and the opening scene is finally explained. VERDICT An exciting mystery adventure for reluctant readers and a great selection for teens who enjoy contemporary fiction.-Rebecca Greer, Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative, FL

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