The Goddaughter. (Rapid Reads series). Melodie Campbell. Victoria, BC: Raven Books/Orca, 2012. 134 pp., pbk., $9.95. ISBN 978-1-4598-0125-7. Grades 11 and up / Ages 16 and up. Review by Christina Pike. *** /4 Reviewed from Advance Reading Copy.

excerpt:

As our feet touched the terrace, the night exploded.

“What the --?” Pete grabbed me and we slammed to the ground. I landed on his arm.

Our drinks went flying. More shots rang out. We rolled.

The air went quiet.

Seconds later, Pete pushed away from me. He vaulted up, scanning the terrace for damage. I struggled to see through the dust. When I got to my feet, Pete was standing over a dead body.

“You fond of that guy from New York?” he said.

I took a breath. “Not so much, now that he’s full of holes.”

Gina Galo is the goddaughter brought back into the “family” to help smuggle jewels across the border. In The Goddaughter, Gina wants to live her life and to simply run her jewelry shop. Her family has other plans for her, however. Things do not go smoothly or as planned, and Gina finds herself in one entanglement after another along with Pete, a sports reporter with the Steeltown Star and prospective boyfriend. Melodie Campbell creates a story that, although predictable, is fun to read. As the heroine is forced into helping her mob family and the “job” keeps getting more and more complicated, the audience is drawn into the situations and is left cheering for Gina to come out on top. Pete is also drawn into the situation and predicably “falls” for the goddaughter. The audience will enjoy the romance and the age-old tale of the “boy saving the damsel in distress”. Campbell throws a few twists into the mix to add to the suspense. In the end, it all works out, and Gina, with Pete’s help, manages to save the day.

     A drama with a twist of humour to keep the reader reading.

Recommended.

Christina Pike is the principal of St. Paul’s Junior High in St. John’s, NL.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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