Quid Pro Quo

This was a fun read. Certainly, the first in a long while that I had trouble putting down. Cyril is a 13-year-old ersatz sleuth. His mother goes missing under mysterious circumstances, but thanks to having attended her law school classes with her, he's up to the challenge. With a delightful narrative voice, Vicki Grant has done an excellent job drawing wonderful engaging characters and making me care about them.

Although this book is meant for teens I quite enjoyed it. And I am sure the target audience (ages 11 - 14) will be thrilled with it.

Cyril MacIntyre has been brought up by his mother, a former street kid turned articling lawyer. Because Cyril was too young to leave at home while his mother took evening law school classes he accompanied her to those classes. He also helped his mother study for exams so he has a much better understanding of legal terms than the ordinary teenager. When his mom disappears after leaving an unusual telephone message for him he doesn't turn to the police because he is afraid they will put him in foster care. So he follows the clues his mom left. They take him to a burnt-out building and to the law library and show more eventually he figures out who has her and why. Then he has to find her and free her. Not so easy for a skinny, short kid with no means of transport.

I really liked how each chapter started with some legal maxim or term. For instance, Chapter Eighteen starts with: Solicitor-client privilege - The responsibility of a lawyer to keep confidential anything a client says to him or her. Never too early for young people to start learning about the law. show less

Fourteen-year-old Cyril lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia with his 29-year-old single mom, Andy, (as he says ‘you do the math’), an ex-street kid with the attitude, and colourful vocabulary to prove it*. When he was ten, she had gone to law school and had taken him with her to every class since their money didn’t stretch to baby-sitters. As a result, he has picked up a great deal of legal knowledge himself. When she graduated, she got him the job as receptionist at the two-woman law firm she works for that deals mainly with poor people .

But all that aside, life is going, if not great, not terrible for Cyril despite being ‘built like a chihuahua’ with freckles and having what he considers a crazy person for a mom. But then a man show more from Andy’s past shows up, an ex-con who demands her help. Cyril is convinced he must be blackmailing her. When Andy disappears, Cyril must play amateur detective using all his skills, including his knowledge of the law, to find her.

Quid Pro Quo by author Vicki Grant is a fast fun legal thriller aimed at a YA audience but definitely something adults can enjoy. It is chock full of dry humour, quirky characters, and the kind of pacing that has made more than a few reviewers compare it to a sitcom. It would make a nice summer read especially for parents looking for something for their reluctant reader.

*since this is aimed at a young audience, Cyril often mentions Andy’s less than polite verbiage but he doesn’t repeat it

Thanks to Netgalley and Orca Book Publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review show less

I really enjoyed this story from Grant and will seek out more from her. Andy MacIntyre, a young single mother and former street kid, couldn't afford a sitter while she took night classes in law, so the young Cyril accompanied her, learning a lot about law in the process. Now, when she is 28 and he is 13 ("you do the math") she has disappeared after leaving an unusual voice message. He has to try to find her. Going to the police isn't an option because he would end up in foster care.

This humorous legal thriller aimed at 11-14 year-olds, was immediately irresistible.

I loved this story. It was funny and face-paced and quirky. The title of each chapter is a legal term and it's definition, setting the reader up for what's coming up. Cyril is a resourceful young adult and manages to stay off the foster home radar while looking for his kidnapped mother who is a lawyer. Cyril knows quite a bit about law as he attended law school with his mom (no babysitter available) and helped her study for her tests. Now he uses his knowledge to search for her. Sometimes he goes above the law (or below it), but he gets things accomplished. It is fun and goofy and will having you cheering for Cyril and his friends.

Quid Pro Quo by Vicki Grant tells the story of Cyril, a thirteen- year-old who attended law school with his mom, Andy. Andy has been kidnapped, and Cyril has decided it's up to him to find her.

This is a fast-paced, well-written story with laugh out loud moments and a peek into the active imagination of a teen boy. For grown ups, it's peppered with the reality of a teen mom trying to pull herself up in the world while keeping her son from falling down a similar destructive path. Some of the characters are a little over the top, but it makes them all the more endearing.

QUID PRO QUO is a cute, fast-paced novel about Cyril, the somewhat clueless son of a plucky teenage mom. Through exposure to his mom's law studies, Cyril comes to think he has enough skills and knowledge to find his mother when she disappears. Cyril is not your typical amateur detective, but this lighthearted introduction to the genre will appeal to middle-grade readers: lots of comedy, a few "gross" moments, and a happy ending. Although the protagonist is thirteen, I'd recommend this book to readers who are eight to twelve.