Gr 9 Up-Molly Mavity's father is a serial arsonist and murderer who has been sentenced to die. Pepper Al-Yusef is a Kuwaiti immigrant with epilepsy, girl problems, and the most useless seizure dog in existence. And Ava Dreyman was the East German resistance fighter whose murder at 17 led to the destruction of the Berlin Wall. When Molly gets a package leading her to Pepper, they're tasked with finding out who killed Ava back in 1989. Frequent flashbacks include Ava's forced stay in an asylum and her relationship with a boy who doesn't speak. Clues include an odd journal from Molly's father and information discovered when the pair inexplicably receive airline tickets to Berlin. The novel's conclusion pulls all the disparate elements together. Fajer Al-Kaisi, Morgan Hallett, and Rachel Botchan expertly express the teen's emotions. Perfect for listeners interested in unraveling a sometimes hard-to-believe series of events. VERDICT This intricately woven sojourn is an optional addition to public and high school collections.-Barbara Wysocki, formerly at Cora J. Belden Library, Rocky Hill, CT © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Fire forges historical and contemporary connections among three troubled teens. The three teen narrators could easily star in their own books. Instead, their voices and lives intertwine in an implausible plot full of coincidences and conveniently chatty villains. Rebellious white redhead Molly Mavity writes sarcastic, tense-shifting letters to her friend Pepper, who lies in a coma. Molly, whose arsonist father will soon be executed, is convinced her mother is alivedespite her suicide. Ibrahim "Pepper" Al-Yusef, a Kuwaiti immigrant with epilepsy and a comic-relief seizure pug, wryly weaves his views on everything from friendship to racism into a series of essays assigned by a long-suffering teacher as a condition of graduation. Both gradually reveal how they followed a stranger's clues to Berlin in search of Ava Dreyman, a teen from the former East Germany who became an Anne Frank-esque symbol for the fall of the Berlin Wall. Ava, whose diary of resisting the Stasi, escaping to America, and finding romance ends with her murder in 1989, connects Molly and Pepper in a far-flung way. Though Ava's accounts of oppression are chilling, Pepper's awkwardness is endearing, and Molly's grief is brutal, the mastermind's far-fetched scheme and Molly and Pepper's improbable stunts in Berlin ultimately muffle the strong voices of all three characters. A convoluted mystery that flavors the darkness of Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity (2012) with the contrivances of Scooby Doo. (Mystery. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

When Ava Dreyman was killed in an East Berlin prison, all she left behind was a diary. Decades later, that diary might hold the truth about Molly Mavity's mother's disappearance, but she'll need the help of Kuwaiti American Pepper Al Yusef to unlock its secrets, and they'll have to travel all the way to Berlin and back to do it. Oakes' sophomore novel unfolds in a series of soul-bearing letters (from Molly to Pepper) and lighthearted essays (Pepper's last-chance assignment to graduate high school), all interspersed with passages from Ava's compelling diary. Though the middle drags a bit, and the ultimate reveal might be predictable to some readers, Oakes has some brilliant moments Ava's mother, a resistance fighter who burns East German buildings, gives fiery speeches about anger, destruction, and power. Molly and Pepper's lively friendship unfolds with spirited warmth, and intricate connections between their families tantalizingly come to the surface. Packed with dynamic characters, thoughtful writing, and a decades-spanning mystery, this will appeal to readers looking for something off the beaten path.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2017 Booklist

Three teens' stories intersect in this convoluted mystery with an intriguing premise set alternately in 1980s Berlin and modern-day California. In the present, Molly Mavity can't escape the reputation of her arsonist father, while Pepper Al-Yusef struggles to graduate from high school. Together, they unravel the secrets behind the life and death of Ava Dreyman, an East German teen whose diary was published posthumously. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.