Troublemakers

Barter debuts with an engrossing family story set in London. Danny became the legal guardian of his younger sister, Alena, when she was three and he was 22, after their mother died. Alena is 15 as the novel opens, and she yearns to learn more about her activist mother, but even the smallest question sends Danny into a rage. Only Nick, Danny’s longtime partner and Alena’s second dad, will engage with her on the subject. Though Alena has plenty of strong friendships, and everyone is talking about a bomber terrorizing London’s East End, the focus of this novel is on her family, her growing conflict with Danny about their mother, and the job he’s taken managing the campaign of a conservative candidate, to Nick’s chagrin. Barter confidently laces conflict and tension into the relationships among Nick, Danny, and Alena, drawing out the hardships they’ve faced during a decade of grief, doing their best to be a stable family. The bomber subplot feels peripheral, a device intended to add urgency, but Barter’s novel should appeal to a wide audience for its emotional honesty and its complex characters and relationships. Ages 13–up. (Apr.)