Official Review: Heist School Freshmen by Alan Gallauresi

[sblake]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Heist School Freshmen" by Alan Gallauresi.]

The book Heist School Freshman is a young adult rendition of the great heist genre. Told from the main character, Angelo’s, point of view, the book not only explores the plotting and planning to pull off the heist, but it really delves into the angst and depth of emotion of a group of students trying to navigate their way in the world. The author skillfully touches on topics of abuse and abandonment, young love and heartache, suicide and drugs as well as doing the right thing and looking out for your friends.

The idea of a huge stash of cash hidden somewhere inside the school is too much for any kid to resist. Angelo and his friends begin to hatch a plan to find the money before their arch-enemies stumble on it. In order to get to their goal, they are forced to enlist the help of several others outside their group that may or may not be trustworthy.

Meanwhile, Angelo is recovering from a broken heart after being dumped by his girlfriend. He is feeling lost and adrift and begins calling a suicide hotline just to have someone to talk to about his problems. Somehow, the author has managed to present this is a way that is believable, sensitive but yet humorous at times. The author’s style of writing is perfectly suited to this age group with the right amount of sarcastic humor. (“My mom had finally broken my resolve to freeload my way through high school, and I was now employed as an independent snow removal specialist.”)

My only complaint about the book is the use of footnotes. The number links were tiny and hard to activate and then the text for the footnotes was too small to read on my kindle. I would have to enlarge the text to read it and then shrink it back down after returning to the text. The footnotes are good and really added to the story; they were just not very accessible on my kindle app.

Overall, I would give Heist School Freshman 4 out of 4 stars. There is a real spark to the story that is enjoyable to read. I found myself really rooting for the boys to win the talent contest, find the loot and get the girl. This book just works. Everything fits. I appreciated the author’s writing style and sense of humor. I would highly recommend this book.

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Buy "Heist School Freshmen" on Amazon

[agallauresi]

Thanks so much to the reviewer for giving their time and effort to compose a review. I'm really pleased you enjoyed it!