Perfect Liars

Gr 7 Up—Drea's life is nearly perfect, apart from a few well-kept secrets. Her well-respected parents are actually successful con artists, she has a crush on a new juvenile delinquent classmate, and she has only the second-highest GPA at the Woodruff School. Drea's plan to break into school to change her grades is interrupted by Xavier, her crush, who is breaking into Woodruff for his own reasons. When X is arrested, Drea becomes involved with Justice Academy, a place for teens who would otherwise end up in jail, and is pulled into the mysterious circumstances surrounding the cases of several of the students there, including Xavier. The intriguing premise of the book is let down by a slow plot and weak characters. The African American protagonist is little more than a sketch, obsessed with grades and spoiled. The first three-quarters of the novel feels like an introduction to a story that never picks up, and even the drama of the school break-in lacks suspense. The conspiracy that Drea works to unravel isn't brought up early enough but abruptly surfaces at the conclusion, which sets up a sequel.