Monday, November 12, 2012

Burning Blue

Burning Blue
By Paul Griffin
Dial Books, 2012. 293 pgs. Young Adult

Nicole Castro is beauty pageant beautiful--until someone sprays acid in her face and destroys one side of her face. Jay Nazzaro, an accomplished hacker, has been an outcast ever since a seizure left him with wet pants in front of the entire school a couple years before. Jay, rather than staring at and gossiping about Nicole like everyone else does, decides to use his hacking skills to try to figure out who it was that attacked Nicole. As he does, he gets to know Nicole and realizes that she isn't the snob he thought she'd be--and he also realizes that the mystery behind who attacked her is more complicated than he anticipated.

I liked the hacker mystery aspect, seeing how Jay uses his skills to figure out pieces of the story. However, what really made me like the book was Jay. His character is so well written, from his insecurities over his seizures to his sensitivity toward Nicole and her situation, both of which will endear him to readers. The characterization is deep and the plot moves quickly. Overall, this is very, very well done.

AE

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