Breaking In

Gr 10 Up–Millie Blomquist aspires to be a filmmaker and selects the Manhattan Movie Academy’s summer program because of the possible prestigious award that is offered to high school students, like her, for their final project. She gathers three others to help make up a crew and begins filming her script based on the sad passing of her father. Millie learns after his tragic death during a bank heist that he was a crook. During a late-night editing session, she meets Ricky O’Naire, a famous director who runs the school’s program. His most famous movie was a heist film, which just so happens to be Millie’s favorite film genre. Ricky likes the premise of Millie’s film, and when a scandal breaks that abruptly ends the summer session, Ricky gets the funding to make a new movie using Millie’s script. She is shattered by this and decides to gather her crew together to pull a heist on the director who stole her idea to get the final cut of the film. Millie’s diverse crew are high school students. Readers will have to suspend their disbelief that teenagers could travel across the U.S., trick adults, and pull off an intricate heist all on their own. Strong language is used throughout, and the adult crooks who are encountered commit violent acts.