YA Pick: All Fall Down

All Fall Down
An Embassy Row Novel (Book 1)
by Ally Carter
Scholastic Press
320 pages
2015
ISBN: 9780545654746

Available January 20, 2015

Another exciting series by Ally Carter hits shelves in January. All Fall Down (Book 1) will likely find new fans of Carter as she begins the saga of Embassy Row in the make believe country of Adria.

Grace Blakely remembers the day her mother died because she was there. Everyone, including her grandfather, a powerful ambassador from the United States, tries to convince Grace that her mother died in an accident. It was a fire, they say. Grace knows differently. She saw the man who killed her mother as he fled the scene. A bald man with a scar on his face. It's a face she'll never forget.

Grace is forced to move back to her mother's childhood home on Embassy Row in Adria, a Mediterranean country; she must follow the rules and play nicely or face international shame and incident. Her country is counting on her. Her grandfather is, too. Alexei, her new next door neighbor, is watching over Grace. But he's not the only one. There are others who are keeping track of her for their own reasons.

When a few of the Embassy Row kids get involved in solving "The Case of the Man With the Scar," Grace is afraid to include them but does so, grudgingly and against her better judgment. The kids explore the underground passages that connect all the embassies, and Grace comes face to face with Dominic, the bald man with the scar.

When the American President shows up for a summit at the U.S. Embassy, the group of kids knows that they must protect him above all people. Grace is getting closer to answers about her mother's death but she's putting herself in grave (literally) danger. Grace's circle of friends is about the expand, and she's not going to believe who the good guys are.

Book 1 sets up for the second book nicely. Grace uncovers  more grisly details of her mother's death, forms a new alliance, and discovers more than one secret.

Highly, highly recommended for Ally Carter fans and fans of spy and espionage. Suitable for grade 7-up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

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