Wanted

Gr 9 Up—Michal Garcia is a bookie who just wants to get through her senior year and out of Carson City, NV. Her parents are dead, her grandmother spends more time on causes than on family, and her only friend has joined a gang. But when a new rich kid takes an interest in her, she realizes that she can no longer be a spectator in her own life. Mike makes a bet for herself-and wins. Soon she is placing more bets for more money, and she and Josh start stealing from the houses of the rich to give to the poor. The excitement mounts quickly: gang and racial violence escalate, Josh and Mike find bigger and more dangerous targets, and the stakes ramp ever higher. High on the thrill of big money, Mike quickly finds herself in over her head and her life on the line. Throughout, issues of immigration, racism, classism, and violence are explored. Mike's six-word "memoirs" for her creative writing class and passages from Dostoyevsky's The Gambler are woven throughout. Teens will be drawn in by the action, but the larger issues will linger after the last page is read.—Jennifer Rothschild, Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Oxon Hill, MD