Squirm

Hiaasen, Carl.  Squirm.  2018.  Alfred A Knopf, New York.

Billy Dickens is your average, ordinary, everyday teenager.  He is in high school.  He does okay in school.  He really loves snakes.

Point of fact: The kids at school were rummaging through his locker, because the kid who'd had the locker before him had given the combination to everyone in school.  Billy put a live rattlesnake in his locker to keep them from messing with his stuff.  The snake's mouth was taped shut, so it wasn't like it could actually hurt anyone.  But still - the scare factor of finding a live rattlesnake in someone's locker is enough to give a kid a reputation.  And a nickname.

At the end of the school year, Billy decides to head out to Montana to see his father.  He hasn't actually seen his Dad since he was 3 years old.  But still - how else are you going to meet a guy who doesn't want to be met?  You surprise him.
Billy books himself a non-refundable flight to Montana, and then tells his mother that he had been in touch with his Dad, and it was okay with Dad.

When Billy arrives in Montana, he discovers his step-mother Lil, a Crow Indian, and his Step-Sister Summer.  His father however, is nowhere to be seen.  When Billy settles in with Lil and Summer, he discovers that having a second family out in the wilds of Montana is beyond amazing.  And then, when Billy discovers that his Dad's job involves the U.S. Government, spy drones, and Grizzly Bears, things begin to get a little bit weird.  Billy returns home to Florida, never having met his father, but intrigued nonetheless by what the man says he does.

Things take a decided turn for the strange when his father show up in Florida, along with his drone, his step sister, and a wild tale of illegal game poaching and the man who is determined to bring down the biggest game hunter of them all.

This wild adventure with Billy, Summer and their families will leave you on the edge of your seat until the very last page!

Image Source: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16438264

Etiquette and Espionage

Carriger, Gail.  Etiquette and Espionage.  2013.  Little, Brown and Company, New York, NY.

Sophronia is quite the character.  She is more interested in climbing, jumping, learning, and finding out how things work than she is in the everyday business of the latest fashion, gossip, and coming out parties. 

Despairing of ever teaching her 14 year old daughter to be a "proper" young lady, Mrs. Temminnick sends her daughter off to finishing school.  But then the strangest things begin to happen.  The carriage that is carrying Sophronia is attacked by Flywaymen on the way to the finishing school.  The school itself is floating above the ground - carried there by three dirigibles.  A Werewolf meets them below and ferries them up to the school.  And then when Sephronia's first class is introduced as Music and Intelligence Gathering, principles of deceit: fundamental espionage; and rudimentary seduction - she begins to suspect that the school is more than she initially thought.

As Sephronia delves deeper into her studies at the school, she seeks to find out two very important things:

1) Why was their carriage attacked by Flywaymen on her way to the school?

2) Who recommended her to this particular finishing school?

Can Sephronia solve these mysteries in time to save her family?  Come delve into this wonderful Steampunk Victorian Suspense Novel to find out!  You won't be disappointed!

Image Source: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/924501499