Tess is good at keeping secrets. After all, she has hidden her grandfather's deteriorating mental condition for some time, running his farm mostly by herself while still attending school. When her older sister, Ivy, finds out what's going on, she steps in, taking Tess with her to Washington, D.C., and placing their grandfather in a treatment facility. Ivy is a "fixer" who helps people in trouble, particularly people in high governmental positions d soon the students at Tess' new high school are convinced that she, too, can fix situations. When the chief justice of the Supreme Court dies of an apparent heart attack, Tess' and Ivy's paths cross in a story of espionage, betrayal, and intrigue. Plenty of plot twists mean that readers will keep turning pages, guessing about the players behind a series of mysterious deaths. Tess and Ivy don't know who to trust and soon must question the motives of everyone involved. Fans of Ally Carter's All Fall Down (2015) will appreciate the insider look at politics, along with the mystery the sisters must solve.

Gr 9 Up-Imagine Shonda Rimes's Scandal plunked into the middle of an elite private high school in Washington, DC. Now imagine the younger sister of an Olivia Pope-like character who possesses some fixerlike qualities herself and is quickly drawn into a political web of intrigue. Barnes packs all of that and more in this YA thriller. Tess comes to live with her much older sister, Ivy, after her grandfather unravels into the throes of dementia. Ivy is busy, strict, and extremely powerfulTess doesn't know whether to be scared of her or love her, or both. After the teen becomes privy to some shocking information, she embarks on a life-changing cycle of events that draws her into the underbelly of DC political life, showing her that perhaps she is not unlike her sister, after all. Barnes is a master of mystery, and The Fixer is a great "fix" for teens not quite ready to tackle the adult themes of the similarly themed TV show. VERDICT Fans of "Pretty Little Liars" by Sara Shepard (Little, Brown) and the "Dead Is" series (Houghton Harcourt) by Marlene Perez will enjoy Barnes's latest offering. Amanda C. Buschmann, Atascocita Middle School, Humble, TX