Quid Pro Quo

by Vicki Grant

Overview

Quid Pro Quo is a high-stakes, fast-moving legal thriller about real people, and funny ones at that. Cyril MacIntyre's mother is an ex-street kid who dragged her son to all her law-school classes, then proceeded to get kidnapped. That aside, Cyril's life isn’t too different from that of other thirteen-year-olds. He has all the usual adolescent issues to deal with: parent problems, self-esteem problems, skin and hair problems, and girl problems. But he has legal problems too. And he's got to solve them if he wants to save his mother's life.

Quid Pro Quo won the Arthur Ellis Award and the cbc Young Canada Reads 2009 award. It has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Edgar Allan Poe and the Ann Connor Brimer. This 2018 edition has been updated with a new cover.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459819337
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	08/28/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Lexile:	760L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Vicki Grant is the award-winning author of sixteen books for teens. Her books have been translated into fifteen languages. She lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. For more information, visit www.vickigrant.com.

Read an Excerpt

I hated law school, but if I hadn't spent three years of my life there, I wouldn't have known anything about fraud, blackmail or the principle of equity. In other words, I wouldn't have known what I needed to know to save my mother's life.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 7-10-Cyril Floyd MacIntyre, 13, is perplexed over the disappearance of his mother, a 28-year-old law-school graduate. He begins his tale with a frank description of his mother's past behaviors. Drug use and a life on the street took their toll on Andy, who, at 15, pregnant with Cyril, began taking more positive steps. She raised her son, continued her education with the aid of public assistance, and became an attorney. When she vanishes, Cyril becomes involved in a web of intrigue and deceit searching for her. His discovery of resurfacing shady characters who played a role in Andy's disappearance makes for a suspense-filled, well-plotted legal thriller. Sure to be a popular choice with teens.-Andrea Tarr, Corona Public Library, CA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

07/30/2018
Unable to afford a babysitter, Cyril Floyd MacIntyre’s single mother, Andy, brought Cyril along to law school as she pushed through her degree, beginning when he was 10. Now he is an adolescent and his mom is a lawyer for the disenfranchised, working at a hole-in-the-wall firm. Byron, a mysterious veteran from Andy’s homeless past, blackmails his way into their small apartment and, annoyingly, takes over Cyril’s room; even more troubling, Andy suddenly disappears. To find his mother, Cyril uses his lawyerly prowess to try and piece together clues from one of her cases. Cyril is sarcastic and hard on his young mother, who has worked hard to leave a life on the streets and provide for her son, and his comments about her and her clients are often off-putting (“I’m 14... She’s 29. You do the math. Pretty nasty, eh?”). But investigation and legal components—each chapter starts with a definition of a legal term that relates to the chapter’s events—will engage fans of straightforward mysteries. Ages 9–12. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Funny, clever! Four and a half stars."

Today's Parent

"The narrator of this thoroughly engaging whodunit is the smartest mouth on two legs any of us could expect to meet."

The Globe and Mail

2006 New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age list

NY PL

2018-06-11
In a narrative laced with lighthearted and self-deprecating humor, 14-year-old Cyril MacIntyre relates a crime story disguised as a lesson in legal terminology. Cyril's young, tough-talking single mother, Andy, incorporates Cyril into everything she does, including taking him to law school when he was 10 and installing him as receptionist for the two-woman law firm she lands at. When Byron Cuvelier, a one-handed man who shares a mysterious past with Andy, shows up and moves in with them, it's clearly blackmail as far as Cyril is concerned. So when Andy disappears, that naturally sets Cyril to sleuthing, and his secondhand legal training is just part of what he needs to unravel the case. (Each chapter is introduced by a legal term that sets up the action.) The story is set in Halifax, Nova Scotia; Cyril, Andy, and Byron are white, while Andy's lawyer mentor is South Asian, and many among their clientele are minorities. The characters are not as simplistic as they initially seem, as first impressions are peeled away. Despite Cyril's tough talk, the narrative is clearly intended for an audience that will expect and enjoy the rosy ending indicated by the confident tone throughout. (Amusingly, Andy's cusswords are bleeped in the dialogue.) While the satisfying denouement doesn't make complete sense in terms of the characters, it is completely in sync with the mood.Fast-paced and funny with brief but crucial hiccups of legal learning. (Mystery. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews