Up in Smoke
by Nick Brooks
High School    Holt    256 pp.
5/25    9781250359933    $19.99
e-book ed.  9781250359926    $11.99

Sixteen-year-old Cooper King has always tried to follow his father’s admonition to avoid political protests for his own safety. But then a schoolmate is shot by the police, and Jason, who is like a big brother to him, plans to loot a high-end fashion boutique during a peaceful protest against racist police violence: “Every time they take one of ours, it’s tax season…I’ll use that bread to build up the neighborhood, on some real Robin Hood type shit.” Cooper is caught between his father’s advice and wanting to help the cause. He decides to join Jason in robbing the store—but then shots are fired, a woman is dead, and Jason is arrested for murder. His younger sister, Monique, collaborates with Cooper to find the real culprit and free her brother, but Cooper doesn’t tell Monique of his own involvement, even as their friendship turns increasingly romantic. Tension escalates during their sleuthing as they encounter “dirty cops, double agents, [and] confidential informants.” As he did in Promise Boys (rev. 1/23), Brooks writes with easily readable prose, abundant dialogue, multiple points of view, and astute social commentary, artfully constructing a complex murder mystery that will engage and involve readers.

From the July/August 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.