Going Wild

Gr 5 Up–Frankie Lorde is back. She and her new bestie Ollie have been volunteering at an animal shelter for their community service requirement. Frankie has grown restless since her last heist, stuck living in a sleepy Greenwich community with her detective uncle since her dad is in prison. When she learns that Greenwich’s idle rich have a penchant for illegally obtained lions and tigers, Frankie decides to act. She makes it her mission to not only free the animals, but to ensnare the traffickers. Along the way, she breaks an eager Ollie into the business and, once she finally gets to visit her dad in prison, has a break of sorts with him. The premise strains credulity, beginning with the supposition that an international jewel thief would keep an incriminating journal, and continues with the supposition that a 13- or 14-year-old could pull off the guise of a writer for a fashion e-zine. Frankie paints herself as worldly and cynically cool and everyone around her in broadly stereotypical strokes—from her earnest yet clueless uncle to the bumbling and rich animal collectors and her theatrical best friend. There’s little in the way of character development and subtlety, but the pace is fast and cinematic. This installment can be read as a standalone. Frankie is cued as white.