Greetings from Witness Protection!

Gr 5-8--What do you get when you mix a snarky city girl with a shady past and lightning reflexes with a seemingly typical suburban family she's just met? A funny, action-packed novel about the trials of school, parental arguments, and sibling rivalry--all with a dash of high-stakes thrills and dramatic showdowns. Nicki Demere has been living in foster care ever since her father was arrested, biding her time until her father comes to bring her home. But FBI agents arrive first. They want Nicki to be part of an inaugural program that trains and places selected foster children with families under witness protection, thereby changing the nature of the families' makeup so they are harder to track down. Spurred on by a disappointing revelation about her own family, Nicki agrees. Despite the protagonist's tough, wisecracking exterior, she finds herself building bonds and connecting with the new people in her life: shy gamer Britt, chirpy student council member Holly, and, most of all, her new family, even sullen young Jackson. But will Nicki's past and her many secrets threaten all she is starting to care about? Young fans of Ally Carter's "Gallagher Girls" spy novels and the "Heist Society" art thief series will relish the action and fast-paced plot as well as the engaging and competent Nicki, whose emotional strength and quick wits carry her through much of the narrative. VERDICT Difficult topics are touched upon but swiftly resolved, making this light read a good choice for tween collections.--Evelyn Khoo Schwartz, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC

The biggest complaint that readers may have about Burt's debut novel is that it ends. Sassy, snarky Nicki Demere--a 13-year-old foster kid with a big heart and the quick hands of a seasoned thief--is commissioned by the U.S. marshals to join a family in the Witness Protection Program that is hiding from one of the deadliest crime organizations in the country. As daughter Charlotte, she'll help them fly under the radar in North Carolina. Nicki/Charlotte is caustically charming ("I wondered how much pressure you could lift off new kids at a school if they could say 'Sorry, I'd try harder, but the U.S. government ordered me not to be that cool' "), and despite her propensity to pick people's pockets when she's nervous, her eagerness to love (and be loved) and her unabashed bluntness make her endearing from page one. Burt nimbly balances the very real danger the family is in with new family/new town hijinks that keep the story light; Charlotte's banter with her new "brother" is spot-on funny, and the nail-biter of a climax doesn't disappoint. Ages 10-14. Agent: Rebecca Stead, Book Group. (Oct.)

An Autumn 2017 Kids' Indie Next List Selection

"Jake Burt is a storytelling magician. Part coming of age tale and part spy thriller, Greetings from Witness Protection could be a collaboration between Judy Blume and Ian Fleming. Nicki relates her unusual experiences with humor and with a commitment that melted my heart and made me wish I'd known her when I was in seventh grade. — Ann M. Martin, New York Times-bestselling author of Rain Reign and the Baby-Sitters Club series

"This inventive, clever story has a lot of heart at its center. Jake Burt's debut is utterly rewarding."--Wendy Mass, New York Times-bestselling author of The Candymakers and Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

"An engaging treat." —Voices of Youth Advocates