YA Pick: Not If I Save You First

Not If I Save You First
by Ally Carter
Scholastic Press
304 pages
2018
ISBN: 9781338134145

Available March 27, 2018

Maddie and Logan play together every day and what a playhouse they have: all the corridors and hidden rooms and back staircases in the White House are at their disposal! Logan's dad is President and Maddie's dad is a Secret Service agent who keeps him safe. When a band of Russians try to shoot the President and steal the First Lady, Maddie's dad takes a bullet and saves the day. Seeking solace and safety for them both, he moves Maddie to the wilderness in Alaska.

Maddie misses Logan and writes him every day hoping that someday he'll write back. Six years pass but  Logan never writes. Maddie is sad then angry and she questions their friendship, but living in the wilds of Alaska keeps her busy: she learns to chop wood, fish, hunt, you know, all those girl things! Maddie becomes an expert at using what she has. She can even catch fish with pantyhose.

Logan is sent to Alaska with his own Secret Service detail. An arctic storm is on the way and Maddie's dad has to fly medicine to another town. Maddie is still mad at Logan for not answering her letters even though she is finding it hard not to notice how cute he is. Preparing for the storm, Maddie and Logan are ambushed. Maddie is knocked over a cliff and Logan is taken away. As Maddie comes to, she realizes that she has to go after Logan. The weather is turning and animals (like bear) will be hunting before the storm. Maddie is an expert in the terrain and tracking. Logan is trying to make it easier to find him by breaking branches and overturning rocks when he can.

Logan hears his kidnapper talking on a satellite phone and because he studied Russian he knows that the kidnappers plan to meet and take him out of Alaska. There is a doctor standing by. The kidnapper talks freely not realizing Logan knows Russian. Maddie finds Logan and they are able to get away, but things are not as they seem. They have more than one predator after them in the wilderness.

Fans of Ally Carter will love this new title. Maddie is a fierce, kick-butt heroine who doesn't cower to baddies or allow Logan to waltz in and steal her heart (at least not right away). The love/hate banter between Logan and Maddie is too good to miss! Carter is spot on with capturing teen voice.

Highly recommended grade 7 and up. A must have for your Ally Carter collection.


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

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.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)