Pursuing Amy

July 1, 1999
Gr 6-8-Amy Candler looks like any other 12-year-old girl, but her abilities are nothing short of extraordinary. Not only can she solve advanced math problems, but she can also sink a basketball through the net every time and land a triple toe loop on the ice rink. Amy is a clone, created in a lab, and only she and her adopted mother know the truth. The girl struggles to hide her background and talents because she believes there are evil individuals looking for her who want to create "a master race of superior people." Despite this, Amy lives like most other girls her age, hanging out with her best friend, becoming interested in boys, and watching movies. However, she has a hard time keeping her identity a secret and begins to wonder whom she can trust. This fast-paced mystery will keep even the most reluctant reader on edge. Amy and her friends talk and behave like real kids and it's nice to see a believable and warm mother-daughter relationship.-Kristen Oravec, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Strongsville, OH

Copyright 1999 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 1999
Gr. 6^-8. If you're looking for books guaranteed to hook hard-core nonreaders, just booktalk the first two titles in Kaye's irresistible Replica series and stand back. Kaye escalates the tension to fever pitch in "Pursuing Amy," and readers will be lining up to reserve book three as soon as it's available. Amy's friend Tasha blames Amy's sudden moodiness on puberty. What she doesn't know is that puberty has caused radical changes in 12-year-old Amy, the seventh of 12 female clones produced in an ill-fated genetic engineering project. Almost overnight, Amy's intellectual, physical, and athletic capabilities have reached superhuman levels, and now Amy is being pursued by the treacherous organization that funded the cloning project. As Amy struggles to keep her secret, avoid capture, and learn more about herself and the other Amys, she risks her friendships and has repeated encounters with members of the organization who will murder anyone who stands in their way. A very good series that will also appeal to older reluctant readers. ((Reviewed January 1 & 15, 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)