Played

March 17, 2014
Fifteen-year-old Riley Berenger is a smart girl who loves to wear pink; Sam Tracy is equally smart, but he hides his intellectual side from his Native American friends. During a leadership weekend trip in the wilderness, Riley falls onto a mountain ledge; Sam tries to help her, and they spend the night together—nearly naked for warmth—until they are rescued. To thank Sam, Riley promises to help him break up her brother Ryan’s relationship with a Native girl, Fred, who Sam is in love with (Ryan and Fred will be familiar to readers of Fichera’s Hooked). Fichera reprises the theme of cross-cultural romance as misunderstandings ensue and Sam and Riley fall for each other, but the story is let down by overdone situations where Sam comes to Riley’s rescue. Beyond the initial mountain scene, Sam also fights a boy who takes advantage of Riley at a party and protects her from a menacing biker gang. Riley is the perpetual damsel in distress, repeatedly finding herself in sexually vulnerable positions, waiting for Sam to save the day. Ages 14–up. Agent: Holly Root, Waxman Leavell Literary Agency.

April 15, 2014
The second book in the author's examination of relationships between the white community and Native Americans on a Phoenix-area reservation. Hooked (2013) got down and dirty into the racism engendered by a romance between Fred, a great girl golfer from the Rez, and Ryan, an upper-middle-class white boy. Here, the focus shifts to Ryan's younger sister, Riley, and Sam, a Gila-Havasupai boy who's been in unrequited love with Fred for years. Sophomore Riley and junior Sam, never friends, find themselves thrown together at a leadership camp when Riley falls over a ridge and Sam clambers down to rescue her. As they wait to be retrieved, Sam confesses his love for Fred to Riley, and Riley decides to break up the girl's romance with her brother and give Sam a makeover so he'll have a chance with her. Meanwhile, Riley goes to a party given by her longtime secret heartthrob--who simply plays Riley for a fool. Once again, Fichera concentrates on the conflict between personalities, although here she places less emphasis on the conditions on the reservation. While readers will predict the eventual romantic outcome, getting to that point takes the characters through major difficulties, providing most of the fodder for the story. As Riley and Sam begin to realize their mutual attraction, plenty of suspense arises from Riley's bad choices. The book stands out in its nicely realistic portraits of the teens. (Romance. 12-18)

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May 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Riley Berenger and Sam Tracy could not be more different. Sam is a brooding Native American teen from the rez, while Riley is a rich girl whose biggest concern is getting asked to prom. They cannot stand each other-until one weekend retreat changes everything. When Riley falls off a mountain, Sam is the one who rescues her. After a night spent stranded in the wilderness, Riley makes up her mind about two things: she is going to live life by her own rules and she is going to help Sam get the girl of his dreams. So what if that girl is her brother's girlfriend, right? The novel has all the ingredients of a typical romance: star-crossed lovers, an anti-hero, a dash of danger, and a cute boy on a motorcycle. It could be trite, but the plot is a perfect mix of real-life scenarios and swoon-worthy romance, while the issues of race and class that Fichera interweaves into Sam and Riley's story add substance. In an alternating first-person narration style similar to Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park (St. Martin's, 2013), readers are given insight into the characters' thoughts and feelings. The tale sticks to the formula, but the captivating ways in which the sequence of events plays out keep this take fresh and exciting.-Sarah Lorraine, Nazareth Academy, LaGrange Park, IL

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