Fire & Heist

October 15, 2018
A fantasy heist long on worldbuilding and short on theft.Following her mother's midheist disappearance, Sky Hawkins wants to determine what happened and repair her grieving family and their fall in wyvern society. Wyverns, this Earth's famous-for-being-famous people, are formerly shape-shifting dragons exiled from Home. They look like and live among humans but have their own customs and rules; hoard size conveys status, and teens come of age with a first heist. Sky assembles her crew--loyal boyfriend, Ryan, whose vault Sky's mother was robbing; book-smart human Gabriela Marquez, who mostly exists to drive Sky around and feel worthless compared to the adventurous wyverns; and brown-skinned wyvern wizard Maximus, who has his own plans--and schemes to follow her mother's trail while Sky's three protective older brothers and her father keep secrets. The heist is absurdly simple (they have an inside guy) and quickly gives way to many revelations and a journey Home, followed by a return and the requisite upending of society. Sky's incredible wealth and privilege are acknowledged in her wry narration, but the poor-little-rich-girl refrain and self-consumed approach make her hard to like. Secondary characters largely lack depth. On the other hand, hints of the larger world--like wyvern-run California--intrigue. The Hawkins family is assumed white.A quick read not without pleasures, but the premise is the best part. (Fantasy. 12-16)

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December 1, 2018

Gr 7{amp}ndash;10{amp}mdash;The author set out to write a stand-alone fantasy that combines elements of Ocean's Eleven with were-dragons, and she delivers. Sky is from a prominent were-dragon family. She recruits a group of accepting human friends to help her raid another were-dragon family's vault and solve her mother's disappearance along the way. The plot is so richly described that readers will be engaged in this world populated by shape-shifting dragons living among humans. Weaved into the fast-paced story is a rich history of lore to relay the deeper connections were-dragons have with gold and one another. The book swiftly moves into action from the opening scene as Sky realizes that she must use her deft skills to retrieve an item that holds the answer to two potential mysteries. Readers get fun insight into her dual life as a teenage girl attending school and her role within her shape-shifting family. The requisite romantic conundrum further complicates Sky's quest. The weak characterization might disappoint some but doesn't detract from this action adventure. VERDICT A good purchase for middle and high school fantasy shelves.{amp}mdash;Alicia Abdul, Albany High School, NY

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2018
Grades 9-12 Sky's family is obsessed with gold?hoarding it and stealing it. It makes sense; they're wyverns, humans descended from dragons. Ever since her high-status mother vanished, seemingly abandoning them, Sky and her family have been outcasts, and she's lost her boyfriend and all of her friends. But when she hears of a jewel that could restore her family's status, she starts gathering a crew and planning a heist of her own. Planning such a scheme is a rite of passage in the wyvern community, but in attempting to steal this jewel, Sky stumbles upon a secret that could change her family, and her people, forever. Alex Award-winning Durst (Queen of Blood, 2016) serves up an intriguing take on dragon mythology with this high-stakes YA adventure featuring a spunky heroine. Some thin characterizations are balanced out by rich world building and a fast-moving narrative. Fans of Sophie Jordan's Firelight (2010) and its sequels will be similarly drawn to this tale of human-dragon hybrids.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2019
Sky Hawkins's mother has disappeared and her fellow wyverns (were-dragons), headed by Sky's boyfriend Ryan, have shunned her once-privileged family. Sky is determined to carry out her first heist--a wyvern rite of passage--and to pursue the truth about her mother, but in the process discovers a huge secret in the wyvern community. Ebullient narration and rich world-building offset simplistic characterization in this standalone fantasy.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)