February Book of the Month

Hello people of the interwebs! While I've been trying to figure out which direction I want my life to take (I'm calling this time in my life my "quarter-life crisis"--that's when you are trying to figure out how you're going to make it to your mid-life crisis), I have definitely still been making some time to read, though not as much as I usually do this month. I don't know if I should blame it on the short month, or all of the bad things that have happened this month, but whatever the reason, I have very few books to choose from. Fortunately, February is finally over!

I've been going back and forth on which book(s) to recommend. I've read mostly "lite-lit" this month, and there was a trilogy of books. But, since I recommended a trilogy last month, I think I'm going to go with Heist Society by Ally Carter.

Heist Society is a YA novel that would be great for people who love Ocean's Eleven, The Italian Job, and similar types of stories. The main character, Kat, is a girl who comes from one of the biggest art crime families in the world. Trying to have a "normal" life, she started on her biggest con of all--boarding school. But just a few months in she is kicked out and reluctantly joins her friends in order to clear her father's name, which involved stealing four paintings from a the most secure museum in London.

Not only is the writing fun and fast paced, but the characters are well developed and quirky. With the whole team being teenagers, it appeals to a middle school audience, especially as they outwit most of the adults in the novel. While some people may think that it's wrong to be rooting for art thieves and cons, I think that what Carter excels at is the "gray" area--yes Kat and her team steal things, but their reasoning is in the right place. Also, there is someone much worse than them in the story. People and situations are not ever simply good or bad, and Kat truly does want to be good, but she also can't deny her history and family. It's an interesting dynamic.

This is the beginning of a trilogy (hah, I basically recommended a trilogy anyway), but I think that this book stands well on its own.