Flying by Carrie Jones

Series: Flying (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Sci-fi/Comedy

Subjects: aliens, alien hunters, cheerleaders

Setting: New Hampshire and Maine

POV/Tense: 1^st person, present tense: Mana

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 249 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Macmillan: Tor

Summary/ product description: “New York Times bestselling author Carrie Jones introduces sassy alien-hunting cheerleader Mana in Flying, the launch of a sparkling new YA SF series.

People have always treated seventeen-year-old Mana as someone in need of protection. She's used to being coddled, being an only child, but it's hard to imagine anything could ever happen in her small-town, normal life. As her mother's babying gets more stifling than ever, she's looking forward to cheering at the big game and getting out of the house for a while.

But that night, Mana's life goes haywire.

First, the hot guy she's been crushing on at school randomly flips out and starts spitting acid during the game. Then they get into a knockdown, drag-out fight in the locker room, during which Mana finds herself leaping around like a kangaroo on steroids. As a flyer on the cheerleading squad, she's always been a good jumper, but this is a bit much. By the time she gets home and finds her house trashed and an alien in the garage, Mana starts to wonder if her mother had her reasons for being overprotective.

It turns out, Mana's frumpy, timid mom is actually an alien hunter, and now she's missing--taking a piece of technology with her that everyone wants their hands on, both human and alien. Now her supposed partner, a guy that Mana has never met or heard of (and who seems way too young and way too arrogant to be hunting aliens), has shown up, ordering Mana to come with him. Now, on her own for the first time, Mana will have to find a way to save her mother--and maybe the world--and hope she's up to the challenge.”

My Review:  Flying is a crazy, hilarious sci-fi thrill ride. At times the humor may seem a little over the top, but that’s the fun of it. It’s sci-fi comedy. This is the first book of a new series by Carrie Jones, author of the Need series, which was also fun and creative. Much like that series, this one is set in New England, New Hampshire and Maine.

Mana is a cheerleader. She’s the flyer because she’s short and her friends September and Lyle are bases. Mana has a crush on a drummer named Dakota, but during a basket ball game a guy attacks Dakota. It turns out that Dakota is an alien and a jerk. The guy beating his up is named China and he’s an alien hunter. China’s a bit cocky and weird and claims that Mana’s mother is an alien hunter and his partner. Mana thinks he means partner in love, even though he’s only in his 20’s. That’s not what he meant, of course.

Mana’s mom is missing and she supposedly has a chip with some important information of it. Enemy aliens are likely holding her hostage if she’s not dead already. Mana and China end up letting Lyle in on this too and they go on an adventure-investigation. They go to a facility in Maine that China works at and met an alien Fae named Pierce. Mana also discovers that she herself has abilities and start to doubt whether she herself is human.

That last 50 pages are so crazy and full of twists. This book may have took me a while to read because I was so busy with back-to-school stuff, but once it gets going it is really fast paces. I recommend it to fans of Daniel X by James Patterson, Taken by Kimberly Derting and Rush by Eve Silver.

Cover Art Review: Very funky. Fits the book perfectly.