Fake I.D.

by Walter Sorrells

Book Review

Publishers Weekly :

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Sixteen years on the run with her mother, constantly changing addresses and names, finds "Chastity Pureheart" or "Chass" in the town of High Hopes, Ala., in Sorrell's first young adult novel, the inaugural book in his Hunted series. Despite Chass's closeness to her mother, she still doesn't know what they are running from, her real name or who her father is. On her 16th birthday, Chass's best friend, Ben, gives her a new guitar, an instrument she's been practicing and playing in secret (for reasons not yet known, Allison, Chass's mother, won't allow music of any kind in their home. A fight between mother and daughter ensues, and Allison disappears. An investigation turns up a pool of blood in a dilapidated house outside of town, with Allison's car abandoned outside. Chass refuses to believe her mother is dead, and seeks answers, with the help of Ben and the sheriff's daughter, Brittany. But the sherriff and Ben's father seem to be linked to an unsolved murder from way back. Who can Chass trust? Chass believes she must solve this mystery in order to learn what has happened to her mother. Sorrell's story is gripping and intelligent, even if a few strands of the plot stretch credibility (e.g., why does Chass trust the sheriff's daughter?) and he believably conveys teenage dialogue and emotion that never come across as trite or condescending. "The bank manager had the look of the sort of guy who would have a hard time saying no to a crying girl. I thought about faking it. And then suddenly it hit me. This wasn't a fake situation.... I really was a sixteen-year-old girl, alone in the world, who needed to get into that safe-deposit box. I started bawling." Readers will race through the pages to uncover the answers to Chass's many questions. Ages 12-up.

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School Library Journal :

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Gr 9 Up–In this fast-paced mystery, 16-year-old Chass has just six days to find out why her mother disappeared. The authorities in High Hopes, AL, want to put the teen in foster care. Several threatening men seem to want her dead. Chass knows little about her mother and their past; she isn't even sure of her real name. All she knows for certain is that they have been on the run for as long as she can remember, moving from town to town and adopting new aliases in each place. Sorrells weaves an entertaining tale with a sympathetic heroine. Several subplots add interest to the story, from Chass's first romantic feelings for the boy who was formerly her best friend to her dreams of a career as a musician. Her unlikely alliance with the bad-girl daughter of the town sheriff is also intriguing. The major revelations at the end may not come as a complete surprise to careful readers, but there are enough minor twists and turns to keep mystery fans guessing until the last satisfying pages.–Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Public Library

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*Starred Review*

Gr. 8-11. Sorrells, Edgar Award-winning author of legal thrillers for adults, brings his expertise to a compelling suspense story for teens. Chastity Pureheart, newly settled in High Hopes, Alabama, is absolutely in the dark about her name and why she and her mother keep packed suitcases by the front door wherever they live, as if they may need to move in an instant. On the night of Chastity's sixteenth birthday, her mother disappears. Mom's car is later found, abandoned and filled with fake I.D.s. Chastity is convinced that Mom is still alive, and with foster care looming in six days, Chastity is determined to find her. The clock is ticking, and there's a creepy vacant house to explore, with a skull in the basement that connects to a 1960s high-school football hero. Sorrells masterfully sustains suspense throughout, spiking the drama with some truly frightening scenes that make this a terrific read. In the end, Chastity, confused as she is, still emerges as determined, feisty--and triumphant.
ConnieFletcher.

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