Firecracker
Gr 9 Up–When 17-year-old Astrid Krieger's latest boarding school kicks her out for cheating, her parents give her one option: public school. Despite being guilty of this crime and more, Astrid schemes to expose the traitor in her old clique who set her up for discovery. In the course of stringing along her psychologist; avoiding her fake boyfriend; and coming up with an elaborate exposé involving a doppelgänger, a basket of sandwiches, and a horse, she also learns some lessons about family, friendship, and romance. Weaknesses in plotting and clichéd, underdeveloped secondary characters are overcome by the sheer force of Astrid's voice as the whip-smart, spoiled, snarky narrator in this fast-paced and funny novel.–Natasha Forrester, Multnomah County Library, ORα(c) Copyright 2013.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.