ALIBI JUNIOR HIGH

Growing up with a covert operative for a father, 13-year-old Cody Saron is prepared for almost anything that comes his way. Now living in a small Connecticut town after narrowly avoiding an assassin’s bomb, Cody may not be so lucky in the halls of his new middle school. Instead of focusing on the rather standard “out of his element” plot, Logsted knows that the best way to draw readers in is with action, and the pages are packed with karate and midnight excursions. Cody has an older foil, Andy, a discharged Army Ranger who lost an arm in Iraq, and the two characters bond over post-traumatic dtress disorder and the challenges of adapting to civilian life. Highly educated and socially awkward, Cody has confrontations with his teachers that will resonate with readers of all backgrounds. A convoluted resolution is mostly lost in the action-packed conclusion, but with guns, kicks and silencers, it’s not really important. Funny and fast paced, this fits right in with the beach-read crowd. (Fiction. 10-14)