The Assassin's Guide to Babysitting

November 1, 2024
A BountyApp job booking makes a night of babysitting go very wrong for a superhuman teen. Seventeen-year-old Tru Stallard has spent nearly eight years hiding in plain sight from the people who murdered her parents. She's learned from the best--her infamous ex-assassin guardian, Logan Dire--how to be constantly vigilant for when (not if) the bad guys come back. No one, not even her best friends, Sage, Embry, and Amethyst, can know that she used to be named Gertrude Grey and, worse, that she's a bastion--the rarest of all the talents in their underground world of superpowered people. Bastions are impervious to injury, making them feared and hunted in Underhill, the talented community existing in tunnels beneath Kansas City, where Tru lives. But when an innocent babysitting job turns violent, Tru must decide whom she can trust with the truth in order to protect baby Thea, whose mysterious powers have attracted the worst kind of attention. The threat includes Lila, Tru's longtime crush and Sage's older sister, who happens to work for the very people who are hunting Tru and Thea. Parker balances energetic action scenes with nuanced character development in which main and side characters alike shine. While the romance between Lila and Tru feels a bit superficial, the plot twists and endearing friendships will keep readers engaged. Tru, Logan, and Sage read white, Embry is cued Latine, and Amethyst has brown skin. A heart-pumping, high-stakes ride.(Adventure. 13-18)

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December 1, 2024

Gr 9 Up-A thrilling combination of superhero and crime fiction. Tru, 17, has grown up in a secret community of assassins and bounty hunters who live seemingly normal lives when they are not getting gigs through the BountyApp. This community shares a set of Talents; everyone has a superpower. Tru is already hiding many secrets for a teenager: the assassination of her parents that sent her to live with her uncle, that she holds the forbidden Talent of invulnerability, and last (but not least) that she has a huge crush on her best friend's older sister. Her life becomes even more complicated when a simple babysitting job gets interrupted by a bounty-on the baby. Tru and her friends will have to protect the newly orphaned baby while trying to untangle a mystery at the very heart of their community, one somehow tied into Tru's past. While the plot does rely on some common YA tropes, Parker's fresh characters and inventive worldbuilding elevate the story. VERDICT Fans of the X-Men and thrillers like the "John Wick" movies or Atomic Blonde will enjoy this caper.-Tammy Ivins

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 2, 2024
In an ambitious thriller from Parker (Come Out, Come Out) that’s one part John Wick and one part Adventures in Babysitting, orphaned 17-year-old Tru Stallard comes into her own as a superpowered teen when she goes on the run. Though she lives in a society filled with gifted individuals, Tru, a bastion—one who is preternaturally impervious to injury due to indestructible skin, muscles, and bones—must hide her Talents, even as she prepares to take her place as part of the organization of dangerous assassins in which she was raised. But when the arrival of unknown killers turns a babysitting job upside down, Tru escapes with infant Thea, who appears to have the same abilities as Tru. Aided by friends and fellow assassins, Tru searches for answers regarding her parents’ murder, her Talent, and Thea’s past. Propulsive action beats and richly imaginative worldbuilding occasionally founder under the weight of its meta influences, which sometimes draw focus away from Tru’s grappling with identity and legacy. Nevertheless, a rip-roaring climax and adrenaline-pumping resolution will have readers on the edge of their seats, eager for more. Tru and Thea read as white. Ages 14–up.

Starred review from December 1, 2024
Grades 7-12 *Starred Review* Every good babysitter needs five things: a change of shirt, an infant CPR certification, and three (or so) throwing daggers. At least, that's the case when you take a babysitting job via BountyApp, which is how most Talented teens get their spending money. In this inspired mash-up of the 1994 film The Professional and the children's cult classic film Spy Kids, Tru is secretly an impervious Bastion who was raised by a professional baker-assassin after her parents' death. She ends up on the run with her friends after they become the temporary guardians of an infant who also possesses that rare, dangerous Talent. All the teens involved have Talents, are extremely resourceful, and clearly have depth beyond what the reader sees, making them a lovable group that's impossible not to root for. Though baby Thea can't be harmed, her presence is more of a bit than a source of plot anxiety, balancing out Tru's grief over the death of her biological parents and adoptive father. The pacing is swift without sacrificing plot complexity, and each character has a realistic amount of impulse control for their age, resulting in some dire situations that could have been avoided with slightly more adult forethought. A clear first pick for any teen who loves action adventure, especially those who struggle to maintain interest in reading.

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