Review: The Great Greene Heist

By Varian Johnson
Available now from Arthur A. Levine (Scholastic)
Review copy

Varian Johnson is a local Austin author, so I saw him speak several times back when I lived there.  He's been talking the talk and walking the walk about diversity in children's books since before it was trendy.  I'm happy to see him make the jump to middle grade and reach a new group of readers.

THE GREAT GREENE HEIST throws the reader right into the deep end with a varied cast of characters and a flurry of references to past escapades.  This book is clearly positioned to be the start of a series, but it doesn't waste time.  At first I felt like I'd missed a book, but then I caught on.  There's very little talking down to the reader.

Jackson Greene is known around school for getting things done, but he's decided to stop interfering ever since his last caper ended up destroying his relationship with his best friend, Gaby. But now his rival and the richest kid in school, Frank Sinclair, is running against Gaby for Student Council President, and Jackson just knows he isn't going to play fair.

THE GREAT GREENE HEIST is one of those books where everyone actually cares about Student Council.  If you just go with it, it's fun.  It's very much a homage to OCEAN'S 11 and other heist films, with a crackerjack team of nerds who each have their own specialties.  The technology is fake, but the cleverness and scheming are real.

This quick-paced novel will appeal to readers looking for an adventure set in the present day.  Everything is kept on an age appropriate level, from kissing (just a peck!) to racial tension.  Most of the characters a broad types, but Jackson himself is well rounded.  THE GREAT GREENE HEIST stands well on its own, but I do hope it gets sequels.  It's a fun book.

Local Authors

Local Authors with Jennifer Ziegler, Varian Johnson, Shana Burg, and April Lurie

Perhaps the most interesting conversation in the Local Authors panel was that of appropriate content for young adult fiction, particularly that which will be read by middle graders and young adults. Varian Johnson believes it's important to avoid gratuity and only include what is true to the characters and the story. He found MY LIFE OF A RHOMBUS difficult to write, particularly because it involved pregnancy and abortion, dilemmas he will never face. He wanted to do it right, which I can respect.



With SAVING MADDIE, he's writing about a Christian boy both wanting to save a girl and lusting after her. Sex and religion can also be controversial, but he maintains that the way to do it well is to be true to the character.

The other authors agreed. But even remaining true to the characters, there might be some changes made. Shana Burg's historical A THOUSAND NEVER EVERS originally included a single use of the n-word.



However, her editor knew middle graders would read the book as well and asked her to remove it. Now the book is on the Lone Star list, which might not have happened due to a single perjorative. Likewise, April Lurie removed a single cuss word from BROTHERS, BOYFRIENDS, AND OTHER CRIMINAL MINDS in order for it to be sold through Scholastic. The authors don't do this lightly.

Jennifer Ziegler's HOW NOT TO BE POPULAR is also on the Lone Star list.



Her other published novel, ALPHA DOG, is also clean. So when she turned in an outline to her editor with a questionable scene, the editor asked her if she could change the scene while being true to the story, since there is a need in the YA market for clean books. Jennifer says she likes the new way the scene occurs better, but she would have kept, and fought for, the original if she thought it necessary to the story. Being honest to the characters always wins out.

April Lurie also had to be careful when writing the soon to be published THE LESS DEAD. It's about someone killing homosexual adopted boys, and the protagonist blaming his father for preaching hate. That's definitely something that could upset people, and April knew it wouldn't even be for her own parents. Still, she tried to do her best to tell the story she wanted to tell. Sometimes you can't avoid people being offended. She did have an odd situation with someone saying online that she should be killed for writing THE LATENT POWERS OF DYLAN FONTAINE.



Apparently this blogger thought she had plagiarized two of his favorite novels. April did respond classily: she told him she had never read the novels, but one his recommendation she would. She then followed up after she had finished the two books.

The authors also answered my question is this panel, which was what it was like to be a part of the Austin area YA writing community. They all answered that it was wonderful. Apparently none of them knew Austin was a children's writing mecca until they came here. (Shana was from Boston; April was from Brooklyn.) I know I like it, since it means events like this happen! I hope ya'll enjoyed the write-ups, and that they gave you a little taste of the Austin Teen Book Festival. Unfortunately, I was using a telephoto lens so Jennifer is cut out of this photo of the panel laughing.