After Hours

April 1, 2015
The stakes of a game of dares grow uncomfortably high for four teens. The Waterside Cafe is as good a workplace as it is a fine dining experience. The clientele is classy, and the post-work game of Tips run by sleazy (but initially tolerable) manager Rico provides the young staff with biweekly opportunities to make extra cash on the side by fulfilling outrageous dares. The four protagonists of Kennedy's debut-Isa, Xavi, Peter, and Finn-each have something to hide, and all four try to use Tips' promises of financial independence and social capital to achieve their goals. Isa wants to leave her beauty-queen past behind, Xavi wants to attend fashion-design school in New York, Peter wants to become a chef (and win his stepsister Xavi's heart), and Finn just wants to have fun. As the intensity of the summer's dares increases, the four teens face ever steeper consequences for their choices, including a pregnancy scare, potential arrest for teen prostitution, and being framed as a burglar. An impressively efficient series of coincidences and schemes must be assembled in order to keep the stakes for these likable kids from becoming depressingly real. Featuring short, punchy chapters, engagingly flawed characters, and a plot that churns ever forward, this frothy confection may not nourish, but it will certainly delight. (Fiction. 15-17)

April 1, 2015

Gr 10 Up-Isa, Peter, Finn, and Xavi are four workers at an upscale restaurant. Finn is the jock next door. Isa is the mysterious new girl. Xavi's sole reason for working is to get out of their town to New York City. Peter, Xavi's stepbrother, simply loves to cook. Each is there for their own reasons, and their secrets and desires drive each to participate in the high stakes, employees-only game-Tips. It is the ultimate truth and dare competition-without the truth element. The rewards are plentiful, though to get them, players must succeed in overcoming the high risk challenge. Compelled to compete and win, all four of them will do whatever it takes to get what their heart's desire. Filled with dates, sex, theft, and twists, this fast-paced YA novel keeps readers absorbed in the story until the (fairly abrupt) ending. Told from alternating points of view, the book gives the perspectives of four main characters and four different personalities. An additional plot point revolves around their shady manger. VERDICT Recommend this title to reluctant readers and mature teens.-Stephanie Charlefour, Wixom Public Library, MI

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