Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Live, Laugh, Kidnap

Live, Laugh, Kidnap
By Gabby Noone
Razorbill, 2022. 330 pages. Young Adult Fiction

Three teen girls get caught up in a real estate battle between a commune and an exploitative megachurch in their small Montana town, and they devise a plot to exact revenge and make a profit by kidnapping the pastor's son and demanding ransom money.

What do a girl who is illegally buying Adderall to help her keep her scholarship (and then got caught and promptly had to forfeit it), a girl born into a cult but has converted to Christianity due to local influencer Ree Reaps, and a girl who has stopped going to church (partly because her mom has been buying in to Ree Reaps’ pyramid schemes, partly because she’s receiving backlash for being openly lesbian) do when they get together?  “Kidnap” Ree Reaps’ son and split the money that’s bound to be offered for his safe return, of course!  This book started out hilarious and ended with a heart-warming message, and each of the characters’ personalities was very well-developed and relatable.  I would definitely recommend this to teens from all sorts of backgrounds who are trying to find where they fit in the world!

If you liked Live, Laugh, Kidnap you may also like:

By Andrea Portes
HarperTeen, 2016. 386 pages. Young Adult Fiction

Willa Parker, 646th and least popular resident of What Cheer, Iowa, is headed east to start a new life. Did she choose this new life? No, because that would be too easy--and nothing in Willa's life is easy. It's her famous genius mother's idea to send her to ultra-expensive, ultra-exclusive Pembroke Prep, and it's only the strength of her name that got Willa accepted in the first place. But Willa has no intentions of fitting in at Pembroke. She's not staying long, she decides. Not at this school--and not on this planet. But when she meets peculiar, glittering Remy Taft, the richest, most mysterious girl on campus, she starts to see a foothold in this foreign world--a place where she could maybe, possibly, sort of fit. When Willa looks at Remy, she sees a girl who has everything. But for Remy, having everything comes at a price. And as she spirals out of control, Willa can feel her spinning right out of her grasp. In Willa's secret heart, all she's ever wanted is to belong. But if Remy, the girl who gave her this world, is slip-sliding away, is Willa meant to follow her down?

By Paula Stokes
HarperTeen, 2016. 379 pages. Young Adult Fiction

Maguire is bad luck. No matter how many charms she buys or good luck rituals she performs, horrible things happen. She spends a lot of time in her room to avoid causing damage. But then she meets Jordy, a talented, lucky, aspiring tennis star. He's convinced he can help Maguire break her unlucky streak; she is convinced the best thing she can do for Jordy is stay away. But it turns out that staying away is harder than she thought.


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