Amanda Pepper certainly wasn't intending to spend all of her newlywed hours with teenagers; she sees them all day as a high school teacher. However, her husband's family has a strong belief in moving members around familial units to help them make better life choices (and to keep immediate family members from each others' throats when times get tense).
Amanda and C. K. Mackenzie's new charge, a 16-year-old dropout named Pip, thinks living with his moonlighting detective uncle and aunt should be the coolest thing ever -- never mind that his uncle is working on his PhD and his aunt is an English teacher when not "staked-out" in the thrilling activity of attempting to catch insurance fraud in the act.
Amanda has felt that her high school seniors have been acting strangely recently, but everyone assures her that they're being normal teenagers. However, when foolish pranks turn dangerous and every overheard conversation seems to hold infinite meaning, she's sure something is going on.
Seemingly disguised as a cozy mystery (perhaps because of the protagonist's career or the mention of a cat), this book packs a wallop, particularly for those familiar with the faculty politics and seething primal tension that can pervade a high school filled with the drama of frustrated workers and hormonal teenagers. A HOLE IN JUAN is fast- paced, interesting and richly detailed. Readers who know how quickly rumors spread in the educational system will nod knowingly at the details within the school, and mystery fans will enjoy the weaving of the story. This is an excellent book and a treat to read.
No matter the season, the Philadelphia private school where
Amanda Pepper teaches English is never a center of
tranquility. But with Halloween and the annual Mischief
Night party only days away, the hope is that nothing more
than old-fashioned vandalism and pranks will take place.
No such luck. Trouble erupts long before the witching hour,
as the school is plagued by a series of mishaps ranging
from the trivial to the potentially deadlyβand most of
which seem to center on a group of popular seniors.
A fire alarm rings during a test; all the orange and black
paint is stolen from the art room; the mustard packets are
taken from the cafeteria. Perhaps more serious: chemicals
and equipment disappear from the science lab, as does one
of Amandaβs exams and her attendance book. And the dapper
new science instructor, Juan Reyes, receives a threatening
message recalling that a teacher was once flayed to death
by his students.
As Amanda juggles teaching, moonlighting as a private
investigator with her husband, C. K. Mackenzie, and coping
with C.K.βs visiting sixteen-year-old high school-dropout
nephew, she tries to find out what, or who, is behind the
ominous events.
Before she can unmask the tricksters, the turmoil in the
school increases when students rise up against the
administrationβs censuring (and censoring) of a campus
poet. Then unrest escalates into a lethally explosive
menace, and Amanda receives a warning that there is moreβ
and far worseβto come.
No excerpt available.
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