Safekeeping

Safekeeping by Karen Hesse follows Radley who returns home from volunteering in Haiti to find that the country has been thrown into complete chaos. A fringe group has taken control of the government, assassinated the president, thrown thousands of citizens in jail and made interstate travel illegal without a permit. When Radley finds herself stranded at the airport she must travel on foot to her parents house and after that to Canada without being caught by the police that she believes are after her because of her parents.



I had mixed feelings about this book. The series of pictures intertwined throughout the book just didn't work for me. Instead of enhancing or illustrating the story they just seemed like filler, often having nothing to do with the plot whatsoever. The story however was interesting and kept me reading till the end. While I felt the author didn't explain the problems going on in the country well enough (and the heroine didn't talk to anyone for the majority of the book) the survival and travel story was interesting and kept me reading to find out what would happen in the end.


Appropriateness: This is a book that teen readers will enjoy. There is a mention of rape (with Radley's friend) but besides that there is no adult content. While Radley has to work to survive the reader feels her strength and perseverance instead of the hopelessness and fear that these types of books often contain. I would recommend it to readers 12+

 Review Copy provided by Amazon Vine