Hit Squad

by James Heneghan

This is Mickey's first year at Grandview High. After transferring, all he wants to do is keep his head down, work hard and fit in with the upscale crowd. He is approached, because of his tough reputation, to join a group of students to take back the school from the bullies. Mickey finds himself caught up in a shadowy world of violence and retribution. When their planned payback goes horribly wrong, Mickey is forced to acknowledge the thin line between victim and victimizer.

Genres: Teen, Young Adult

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

James Heneghan (born 1930) is a British Canadian author. Heneghan grew up Liverpool, England, and currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. He earned Canadian citizenship in 1963.

Series:
* The O'Brien Detective Agency

Awards:
* Arthur Ellis Award: Juvenile
o 1995 – Torn Away – Winner

* Sheila A. Egoff Children's Book Prize
o 1998 – Wish Me Luck – Winner
o 2001 – The Grave – Winner
o 2003 – Flood – Winner

Reviews

[Angela Hau · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Hit Squad" a 10/10 read!

The author, James Heneghan, reveals some important insight about what high school life is like. The author really emphasizes on the concept of bullying which also sheds some light on teens "fitting in". He sets his work in a high school time period. This is significant because it reveals the struggles the main character will face. In my opinion this novel is a great read, it surprised me with the outcome of the story and kept me on the edge always wanting to know what was going to happen next. It seems obvious to me that this book was meant for teens or young adults because of the connections the main character has with the reader and the warnings of what may happen in life if we get lost with the idea of fitting in. I feel the author was hoping to convey the message that people don't need to fit in to belong. Following this, the character Micheal, struggles with this theme of fitting in. As the story of Micheal develops he gains more of a mischievous personality with will soon become his down fall to losing a close friend. The quote that really rings in my ear was, "he's just a nobody," this quote tied the whole story up and made the theme clear. All in all, this book was a really interesting book that connected with what some people in society have to deal with.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finals is burning me out so I'm not even able to put words into sentences.

But I will quickly say this, the premise of this book was good. A group of high school students that take matters into their own hands when dealing with bullies by forming a secret society called the Hit Squad. I thought that was interesting and maybe it's because of research paper upon research paper I have to write that I couldn't really really focus on the book.

[Issane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excited

[Ève · Rating 1 out of 5]

École

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Hit Squad because it was one of the many books I got free from the library and was reading over the summer. It was very eventful and different from what I normally read so I had a lot of fun reading it. It is quite fast-paced but all the characters are very interesting and I enjoyed the twists and turns of the story and finding out what would happen next. While it wasn't the best book, I thought it was pretty cool and it's smart how it can inspire some thoughts about where you cross the line when dealing out justice, when it's such a short book. A character I found interesting was Birgit because in the beginning, she starts the Hit Squad in order to get back at the bullies at their school. I thought this was a good idea until they did their first hit and I was like "WOAH. OKAY." and it was very unexpected lol. This shows that while Birgit would be seen as the victim, the way she goes about getting revenge isn't very good so she is a complex character that is not fully 'good' or 'evil' which is fun. Hit Squad was really quick and a good read so I would definitely read more books like it again!

[Kellie Piekutowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hit Squad by James Heneghan tells the story of a group of four high school students who decide to take matters into their own hands to deal with bullies by forming a secret society they name the Hit Squad. The bullies push kids into lockers, demand lunches, and gang up on their victims in humiliating ways. Certainly, situations such as these happen in the high school where I work; however, as the book suggests with the shortage of adult characters, we might not always see the full picture when it comes to bullying in our schools. That’s why Mickey, the protagonist, and his friends form the Hit Squad. Their task: to stop the bullies from running the school by teaching them a lesson.

For me, perhaps the most shocking scene of this book is in the opening, when Birgit, the founder of the Hit Squad, is overpowered by three girls in an art room storage closet. Although I never experienced bullying to that extreme during my own high school days, I can attest to the fact that girls, and especially girls, can be mean. Then, there are girls like Candy, Mickey’s foster sister, who is kind helps Mickey to question whether his actions as a member of the Hit Squad make him any better than the bullies.

A reluctant or struggling reader would appreciate this book; in fact, the reason I chose it for this reading assignment is because one of our English classes designed for just those students includes it in the curriculum. The chapters are short, the vocabulary is manageable, and the story is fast-paced and action-packed. The theme is relatable to students, too, so they likely will pull from their own experiences with bullies when they read about Mickey and Birgit.

[Tyree]

This book Hit Squad by James Heneghan is about a group of bullies who, gang up on a nerdy new girl. The bullie her because in class the new nerd girl makes the group of bullies feel stupid. Even though they are stupid. So they take her into a equipment room to torture her. They spit chocolate in her mouth hair ands hands. They spit seeds all over her. And they stick a sock in her mouth to make sure she doesnt scream.
One internal conflict that the new nerd girl has is, do I fight back and get tortured more, or let them do whatever and hope it will be over soon? She picks to fight back a little. She hits one of the bullies and makes that person nose bleed. And by her doing that, it made the bullies feel like the girl is crazy and cyco.
I reccomend this book to people who are bullies and don't like people who show you off. I recommend this book to buliies because, situation can grow bigger nomatter what the problerm is. Also being a bullie is just wrong becuase u have a lot of power over one another and they feel like they are not equal to others.
I'll give this book a 3 because even though I liked this book a lot. It basically showed bullies that they can do what ever they want as long as no one finds out about the situation that has been created.

[Dilan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hit Squad was about a teen named Mickey who lived in creekside goes to high school. Mickey goes to Grandview a high school were a lot of rich kids go to. In that school a lot of kids are beaten up and Mickey was a victim. Mickey and a group of people plan to put a stop to it.

I cant connect to this because i haven't been beaten up. Or jumped so i don't really know the experience. And its good that they plan to put a stop to all the bullying. And fix Grandview like it used to be.

I gave this book 4 stars because i thought it was good. I enjoyed reading the book. I understood their situation and it was easy to understand. I didn't give this book 5 stars because i thought it wasn't as great as the book Bang.

[Justins · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hit Squad was about a boy name micheal cord it's his first year in grandview high. He is asked to join a group called the hit squad. The other people that was in the group were Birgit, peter, and whisper. the hit squad first target was to go after shelly, mono, and jesse. those three girl were always bothering birgit so the hit squad tied the three of them up to a tree. hit squad were going after everbody that were bullying them.


I connect this book to the real world because people get bullied then they get revenged.




I gave this book a five star because this book was really realistc and this book teachs a lesson about bullying.

[Rozlen Jeter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rated this a 10 because it included a lot of detail from the (main idea)
MAIN IDEA: Brigit, peter, mickey, and whisper called themselves the hit squad,now seeking revenge on the bullies from the past to get event through all the names and the raping of Brigit from 3 girls including all the bullying of mickey and whisper.
This book is not appropriate for younger students, but is a excellent story just focusing on the main idea. but maybe i shouldn't be reading this because i don't want to be violent when i grow up, for now on I'm not reading no more violent books.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The theme in this book is bullying. Mickey lives in a foster home, but attends a very elite highschool due to his grades, but he has never felt like he belongs. One day he gets a mysterious note asking him to join a Secret Society. He discovers that this society's mission is to take care of all the bullies in the school. The ways the society chooses to take care of the bullies are on the "edge of being illegal". This book puts the acts of bullies in a new light - graphic in the explaining of what they do to each other. Not recommended for younger than 8th grade.

[Chris]

In the book HIT SQuad by James Heneghan a few kids get bullied at school. A girl is assaulted in an art room and sends around a few notes to other kids who are also being picked on. They form a group in the basement and name themselves the hitsquad. they go around and get back at the kids who picked on them. its not bad but they get carried away ending with an older kid dying who wasnt apart of anything.

[Miguel Reyes]

Hit squad reminds me of school. Mostly about the bullies and hiw we should end thr madness.
The main character is Mickey, a quiet but scary person. He lives in a foster home and is 16. Mickey is like most kids at my school, he doesn't mess with any body and is very quiet.
In the book they make a gang called "Hit Squad", and they beat up and torture bullies. My opinion

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a good book. It is about this nice school who gets taken over by bullies who are hurting people very badly. One of the victims comes up with a squad of some sorts and tries to take the bullies at any cost. To find out what happens check out this book.

[Hassane · Rating 4 out of 5]

its really intersting iight

[Martin M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

i didnt realy like this book that much because its about bullying and i dont like books like that this is why i rated it a two

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its alright kinda boring

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really liked this book it shows everyone one what 2 do or what not 2 do

[Hannah G · Rating 1 out of 5]

dumb.

[Piratekingjh · Rating 1 out of 5]

i dident get to read tthe BOOK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHIT

[Harangad · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was awesome

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

#134
Borrowed from library.

FS: "Friday afternoon, ninth-grade art class, final period."

LS:

[Shaniyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay book about change. Starting with bullying, a group of kids decide to form a Hit Squad. This Hit Squad is designed to get back at bullies, Until an unfortunate accident changes them for good.

[Nik Fiset]

this book was cool

[Aneayah Kinney]

The book is good.