Firecracker - Book Review

Astrid Krieger is witty, sarcastic, and has a penchant for getting herself into trouble. Her latest escapade: getting kicked out of private school for cheating on tests. (Oh, but she's done worse.) As punishment, her parents send her to public school! Gasp! Not a rich person in sight! While there, Astrid befriends a few outcasts and works on becoming a "good" person per instructions from her therapist. You can kind of get the gist of how the story goes and how it's going to end, but there were a few twists and turns that I didn't see coming to keep things fresh and entertaining.

Firecracker is written by a comedy writer, David Iserson, for TV shows such as New Girl and Saturday Night Live, and this guy totally nails it! The humor was funny to me as an adult, but not so adult that teens wouldn't get it. It was teen-friendly but also adult-friendly, especially because as an adult, I remember what high school was like and it was fun to root for the characters in this book.

I really hope that somebody makes this into a movie! I don't know who should play Astrid, but I'm picturing someone who looks like a slightly older version of Gordo from Lizzie McGuire as the Noah character.

The book is for ages 12 and up, and the characters in the book are seniors in high school. There is a little bit of cursing, but it's not over the top. I only mention it for parents who might be concerned about that. I think that 12-year-olds might be too young for the book. I'd recommend it for 14 and up.

Firecracker is published by Razorbill. It is available for purchase now. I received a free review copy for my honest opinion.