From School Library Journal
Grade 7-9-Six high school friends form an odd-jobs team to earn extra income. Help-for-Hire advertises We'll do anything! Unfortunately, the teens quickly find that their tasks often include more than they bargained for. They contract to distribute a local newspaper, but it is under attack by a new journal whose owners will do anything to eliminate the competition. An apparently simple cleaning job at a magic shop leads to investigation of a robbery and assault scheme. A stint as costumed waiters at a mall bakery involves money-laundering and organized crime. Each book is told from the point of view of a different team member. This device allows a level of character development unusual in series fiction. As each narrator describes the action, his/her own issues and concerns-family, school, and personal-are revealed. The mystery solution derives from the way each one faces and handles these concerns. Liz (
Ghost), the practical organizer, comes to accept the possibility of the unexplainable. Joker Tom (
Apprentice) develops responsibility and self-control through his job in a magic shop. Athletically talented Sunny (
Gingerbread) uses her physical training to save her friends from a murderer and gains the self-confidence to stand up to her competitive father. Each narrator also comments on the other members of the team, giving readers an increasingly detailed understanding of the group dynamic. The action is brisk and exciting and the dialogue is lively and occasionally humorous.
Ghost and
Apprentice are bound together in a single volume. Worthwhile entries in a new series.
-Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
