Hoax for Hire

May 1, 2019
Can Grayson extricate himself from the family's monster-making business? Twelve-year-old Grayson McNeil loves his camera, which is never allowed on hoaxes, the family business. For generations the McNeil family has orchestrated elaborate scams for pay, bringing "to life" the Chupacabra, Bigfoot, Mothman, and various sea monsters. Grayson has secretly applied to prestigious Culver Academy for a scholarship in hopes of escaping a life as a hoaxer. When his dad is arrested in Scotland and Gramps vanishes, Grayson and his 16-year-old brother, Curtis, must complete the hoax their family's been hired to pull, but a rival hoaxing family plans to steal this hoax and eliminate the competition all at once. Can the boys beat the baddies and complete their dad's contract? Martin's cryptid caper joins a flooded field of similar tales, but it holds its own. Grayson is an engaging, Everyboy narrator, and the cryptozoological factoids are legion. As with many others of the subgenre, readers must check their credulity at the door whether they believe in crop circles or not; it's the mundane events of the story that can cause the head-scratching. The cast is largely white. The combination of adventure and light humor makes for a pleasant diversion--best where there is strong interest in imaginary zoology. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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August 1, 2019

Gr 3-7-Have you ever seen a Loch Ness Monster? The MacNeils see them every day because they pull off hoaxes, tricking people into thinking their creations are the real thing. A sea monster, Bigfoot, a yeti, a Bunyip, and more are all part of their "research." Grayson's family comes from a long line of cryptid hunters and adventure seekers. But the 12-year-old struggles with this life of lies about creatures that don't exist. His older brother, Curtis, is all in, but Grayson wishes he could study photography and attend school full time. Just once, he would love to capture his adventures on film and write about them. Even though Curtis hurls rude comments at his brother daily-Grayson calls them "poetic"-the family's commitment to one another is strong. VERDICT Martin weaves a wonderful adventure of hoaxes, legendary monsters, and the importance of family connections. Children will appreciate the creative and difficult steps the family takes to accomplish each hoax and the surprises along the way.-Paige Bentley-Flannery, Deschutes Public Library, Bend, OR

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2019
Grades 5-7 Preteen Grayson McNeil longs to get out of his family's traditional business and attend an exclusive private high school where he can pursue his interest in photography. Martin takes this relatively conventional premise for a dizzying spin: that family business happens to be the staging of cryptid sightings, crop circles, and other cons. Grayson has painful choices to make when longtime rivals in the same line of work kidnap the adult McNeils and steal their elaborately crafted monster models and suits. Without help from the police (duh), can Grayson and his only somewhat more experienced older brother pull off a scheduled Champ sighting in Vermont and a rescue? Giving her sometimes comically hapless duo an unasked-for ally in Clare, a biracial classmate of Grayson's who has secrets of her own (but is more resourceful than all of the males in the tale combined), the author piles hoaxes atop hoaxes on the way to a climactic end. The McNeil motto, Keep the Legends Alive, takes on new meaning for Grayson, as it will for readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)