WE WANT MORE!

The Gallagher Girls like the fact that you wouldn't believe a bunch of young women were really spies. In fact, they count on it. The group of career criminals, jewel thieves, and con artists who count Kat Bishop among their ranks count on the same thing- to you, they are just another group of teens, not master thieves who can break into the most highly secured art museums in the world. In Double Crossed, Ally Carter brings together the spies and the thieves for one action-packed, doubly brilliant short story. 

Macey McHenry is the senator's daughter, but no one would expect she was also a trained Gallagher Girl. W. W. Hale V is the heir to a fortune you wouldn't believe, but really he just loves a good con. Neither knows the true nature of the other, and there is nothing worse than underestimating your opponent... or in this case, your ally. When, at a high society function, men armed to the teeth hold everyone hostage, it doesn't take Hale and Macey long to realize they have no intention of bagging the wallets and jewels and running. They want something bigger. But that bigger is hidden inside an impenetrable safe. How can two teens save a room full of people? If you have to ask, you don't know Hale or the Gallagher Girls!

OK, first, I must take a moment to BEG Carter to start a new series that brings these two groups together. Come ON! Give me a cross-over series! This was such a TEASE! It was a fabulous way to bring the two groups together and truly showcased ALL their talents. I love the fact that the Gallagher Girls are typically on the "good side" and jewel thief is considered "bad" (although these guys specialize in returning goods that have been misappropriated to their rightful owners). Yet when they come together, especially cool guy Hale and sassy Macey, it was magic! I loved this, and if you have read the two series, you should check this out. If you haven't, I have one thing to say to you- What are you WAITING for!!

Perfectly Addictive

Katarina Bishop has never had a normal life, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been a happy life. She is loved by her con artist family, she knows they will always be there when she needs them, and now she has a boyfriend, Hale. But Hale has never known the concept of family the way Kat has, and when his beloved grandmother dies, that fact becomes all too real.

The boyfriend thing is new for Kat, but when Hale abandons them in the middle of a con, she knows something horrible has happened. When she finds out his grandmother has died, she gets to see the true origins of W. W. Hale V, and it isn't pretty. When she goes to the funeral, she truly begins to understand that Hale is from a different class of people than Kat is, and she knows she could never fit in with this life of his. When the will is read, Hale's world is thrown into turmoil again as he learns his grandmother has left him the billion dollar company. Until Hale is of age to take over the company, the family lawyer will serve as executor, but something is wrong.

When Marcus, Hale's faithful servant, pulls Kat aside to talk to her, he explains his concerns that the will is a forgery. Hale's grandmother never trusted the lawyer, and she always said she would leave something to Marianne, Marcus's sister and Hale's grandmother's best friend. Knowing Kat's particular set of skills, Marcus asks Kat to investigate and find the real will. Now Kat, always a moral con artist (really! I swear!), feels like she must take this job, but how can she take the job that might prove her boyfriend doesn't deserve the inheritance he received? 

You know, I have seen a lot of comparisons of this series to "Ocean's Eleven", but while there is the heist connection between the two, and I love them both, I think this series is in a class all of its own! It really is fun and exciting and gives the reader so much to think about. There was a time I wanted Ally Carter to start writing more YA novels and less MG novels, but I realize that has already happened. Just because her books are clean and can be appropriate to younger readers doesn't mean they aren't also complex enough for older readers. In fact, I find Carter to be very similar to Rick Riordan in that respect. Both of their books are written for younger readers within the genre but are so well written they can easily appeal to everyone, including adults. And in that sense, they are pure genius! There aren't many books that can appeal to both adults and 5th graders and make both demographics happy, but Carter has found the magic formula with this series!

And this was a much different book from the first two because the heists were much more personal to the group. Knowing the possible outcome for Hale, they didn't know how to include him, and he resented their involvement until he found out just how evil the lawyer was. I am keeping my fingers crossed that there will be more of these books in the series, because they are just so great to read. And it isn't often you find a good clean book you can give to tons of readers. If I had one complaint it would be that I wished the covers were more gender neutral because I know boys would love to read these stories, but the covers would scare many of them away. So I might just "heist" the book jacket and trick them into reading it! After they finished it, they would thank me for my trickery!

Will Steal Your Attention!

When we last left Kat Bishop in Heist Society, by Ally Carter, she had reluctantly returned to the family business to save her father: high-end thieving. They steal what can't be stolen- priceless paintings, one-of-a-kind jewels, and items that have been horded by the rich, famous, and nasty for generations. She and her motley crew of teen masterminds managed to break into the most secure museum in the world and recover stolen paintings. But now Kat has fallen off the wagon. Once she started stealing again, she couldn't stop. The only thing that changed? Her motives for stealing. In Uncommon Criminals, Kat is a new kind of thief.

Kat finds priceless family heirlooms and returns them to their rightful owners. She specializes in art that was stolen during the Holocaust and returning it to the survivors or their families from the war criminals who absconded with them during the war. When a woman approaches her to help return an emerald her family uncovered in Egypt and were scammed out of, Kat can't say no. Even when she finds out the emerald is the famous and cursed Cleopatra Emerald, the jewel that has brought pain, suffering, imprisonment, and death to all those who come near it. Many thieves, including Kat's uncles, have tried stealing the Emerald and failed. But not even the curse can keep Kat and her friends from taking a chance at returning the Emerald to its rightful owner.

Somehow they manage to get the Emerald (no one ever suspects kids!), but after she returns it to the woman, Kat is in for the shock of her life. On the news, Kat sees the picture of the woman whose parents found the Cleopatra Emerald and had it stolen from them- and it isn't the woman Kat gave it to! Now Kat and her friends, who have already achieved the impossible, must find a way to steal the Cleopatra Emerald- again. To make matters worse, it seems the woman who conned Kat into stealing the Emerald is a con artist herself- on of the best! Now Kat and the crew have to con a con artist and find a way to get the Emerald back in one of the biggest jobs the thieves of the world have ever witnessed!

This was a fun sequel in this series that reminds me of a teen version of "Ocean's Eleven". The characters are fun and colorful, and the stealing is for a good reason (usually). I love Kat's crew. They are goofy and add some spice and laughter to the story. When Kat's cousin seems to have been cursed by the Emerald, her usual elegant demeanor is quickly sunken beneath trips, slips, falls, and tumbles. Even the two boys Kat cares about, Hale and Nick, are there to keep the excitement up and moving.

This is a wonderful story for middle school students because it is fun and exciting, but completely clean in language and content. It would also be great for a low-skilled older student, because the story is far from juvenile. I love the versatility of this series; it reaches such a wide range of children, making it a must for libraries and classrooms. My only silly complaint? I wish Carter would stop making her covers so cheesy and "girlie"! This book would appeal to both male and female students, but I doubt I could get an older boy to read it! Maybe I will just toss the dustcover and insist they read it anyway!

Stole My Attention!

What do you get when you cross the Da Vinci Code, National Treasure, and Ocean's Eleven in a Young Adult Stew? Heist Society, by Ally Carter! I won't lie, I was turned off by the title- a bit to corny- but the picture made me think of Audrey Hepburn, so I gave it a shot. This was one instance where judging a book by its cover worked out for me!

Kat has left the life. Her father, her great uncle, her cousins, even her family friends are all thieves: con artists, pickpockets, art thieves, jewel thieves- you name it, they can steal it. But Kat wants to live a straight life, so she enrolls (aka cons) her way into boarding school until her long-time billionaire, friend (also a thief), Hale sets her up for an incident involving the headmaster's car and the school fountain which gets her kicked out. hale didn't do this just for fun, though; Kat's father was in trouble. A very evil man had his five prized paintings stolen, and he is sure Kat's father is responsible. Now Kat, Hale, and a merry band of misfit teenaged crooks must find the paintings to save Kat from a very bad man and his gang of thugs.

This story is very interesting, peppered with hilarious antics of supporting characters. Two of the crew, brothers Hamish and Angus, have me laughing from the moment they hit the stage until the very last page. Kat herself is a strong young woman who will go to great lengths to protect her family- even breaking into the most secure museum ever with only 6 other teens as her crew, despite the explicit instructions not to get involved from her father and her uncle. She isn't sure what she wants anymore in regards to "the life", but she knows how much her family means to her!

This is a great book for middle school and early high school students, but the characters and action-packed fun are perfect for low-skilled older students. They won't be burdened by a high reading level, but won't be insulted by a watered-down, hokey story. This was a fun story that ends well, but has a sequel on the way. If you have a student who needs some action to keep them going and would benefit from a fun story to hook them, this is a great choice! And don't let the cover fool you- this would be a good story for boys or girls!