The Assassin’s Guide to Babysitting

Gr 9 Up–A thrilling combination of superhero and crime fiction. Tru, 17, has grown up in a secret community of assassins and bounty hunters who live seemingly normal lives when they are not getting gigs through the BountyApp. This community shares a set of Talents; everyone has a superpower. Tru is already hiding many secrets for a teenager: the assassination of her parents that sent her to live with her uncle, that she holds the forbidden Talent of invulnerability, and last (but not least) that she has a huge crush on her best friend’s older sister. Her life becomes even more complicated when a simple babysitting job gets interrupted by a bounty—on the baby. Tru and her friends will have to protect the newly orphaned baby while trying to untangle a mystery at the very heart of their community, one somehow tied into Tru’s past. While the plot does rely on some common YA tropes, Parker’s fresh characters and inventive worldbuilding elevate the story.