Greetings From Witness Protection! by Jake Burt, a review
Published 2017, MacMillan Publishing Group, 358 pages
Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary

Thirteen-year-old Nicki woos the reader with her strong and quirky personality. We quickly fall in love with this kid in the foster care system who’s gotten the raw end of the deal consistently, with no family that wants to keep her, and a deadbeat dad who’s out of prison now but nowhere to be found.

In the midst of it all she maintains oddball, intelligent cheerfulness, and says some very funny things.

Now she’s got a new offer. How about assisting in the government’s Witness Protection Program as a fake extra sibling for a family that really needs to hide? She takes the challenge and finds herself with a new younger brother and parents who don’t know about her urge to steal things whenever it gets stressful.

They’re all New Yorkers transplanted to North Carolina, and they must never, never tell anyone that they’re not really the Trevor family out of Ohio. So much rests on blabbermouth Nicki, now Charlotte. Can she keep her mouth shut? And, can she keep from stealing stuff from her new mom?

The reader eventually learns that the bad guys get wind of where they are. Uh oh. This adds a whole new level of conflict.

This book is both character study and thriller, poignant and funny. I really enjoyed reading it. I hear the author has a new book coming out this week, and I want to read that too.

Five stars *****