On Edge: A Freerunner Mystery

With a dash of Shakespearean flair, Price’s debut vaults the rooftops and skims the alleys of teen angst, family, and relationships with only a few tumbles. Ellie is a high school gymnast by day and a parkour/freerunning aficionado at night, along with her brother. When she meets handsome graffiti artist Haze, the battle between the traceurs and taggers heats up with the intensity of a gang war, something already plaguing their newly consolidated high school. Distorted likenesses of Ellie begin showing up on local buildings—just as similar portraits of Haze’s sister appeared before her murder. What the novel lacks in flow it makes up for in action and character development. It’s difficult to suspend disbelief regarding some of the details that lead to the final confrontation, as well as plot threads that are left dangling (such as Ellie’s hopes for a gymnastics scholarship). While Price doesn’t fully dive into the cultures of freerunning and graffiti, the novel offers a fresh voice and opens the door to dialogue about what constitutes criminality. Ages 14–up. (Feb.)