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April Mae Manning #1
Unaccompanied Minor
Fourteen-year-old April May Manning spent her life on airplanes with her flight attendant parents. When her father dies in a crash, April's mom marries a pilot who turns out to be an abusive jerk, and gets Mom confined to a psychiatric hospital. So April takes off, literally, living on airplanes, using her mother's flight benefits, relying on the flight crews who know she's been shuttling between divorcing parents for a year. Then, there's a hijacking, but why is April's "dad" on board? April flees to the cargo hold with another unaccompanied minor she's met before, and they fight to thwart the hijackers, faking a fire, making weapons from things they find in luggage. At last, locked in the cockpit with a wounded police officer, the boy, and his service dog, April tries to remember everything her parents said to do in a crisis above the clouds. But she knows it won't be enough.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published November 18, 2013
8 people are currently reading
998 people want to read
About the author
Hollis Gillespie
13 books64 followersHollis Gillespie is a humorist, syndicated columnist, NPR commentator and top-selling author. Her column can be found monthly on the back page of every issue of Atlanta magazine.
Hollis has appeared on the cover of numerous publications including Atlanta magazine, Creative Loafing and Tampa’s Weekly Planet. She has been profiled in Marie Claire, Bust, Writer’s Digest and Entertainment Weekly.
Her television appearances include The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, TBS Storyline, Monica Kaufman’s Closeups, Good Day Atlanta, and an upcoming appearance on TV Land. Her radio commentaries appear regularly on National Public Radio (NPR) and Georgia Public Broadcasting.
In 2004, Writer’s Digest named Hollis Gillespie a “Breakout Author of the Year.” Other accolades include “Best Columnist” (2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) and “Best Local Author” (2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009) honors in the Creative Loafing Best of Atlanta Readers Survey. Atlanta magazine awarded her “Best ‘Tell-All’” in 2006.
The film rights to her first book, Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch: Tales from a Bad Neighborhod, are currently under option with a major Hollywood studio.
Hollis has appeared on the cover of numerous publications including Atlanta magazine, Creative Loafing and Tampa’s Weekly Planet. She has been profiled in Marie Claire, Bust, Writer’s Digest and Entertainment Weekly.
Her television appearances include The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, TBS Storyline, Monica Kaufman’s Closeups, Good Day Atlanta, and an upcoming appearance on TV Land. Her radio commentaries appear regularly on National Public Radio (NPR) and Georgia Public Broadcasting.
In 2004, Writer’s Digest named Hollis Gillespie a “Breakout Author of the Year.” Other accolades include “Best Columnist” (2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) and “Best Local Author” (2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009) honors in the Creative Loafing Best of Atlanta Readers Survey. Atlanta magazine awarded her “Best ‘Tell-All’” in 2006.
The film rights to her first book, Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch: Tales from a Bad Neighborhod, are currently under option with a major Hollywood studio.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
January 2, 2019
This was a fun little surprise. I had never heard of Unaccompanied Minor before. I just happened to come across it while browsing my library shelves and decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did because this was a lot of fun.
April Mae Manning is a trip. I guess you'd call her a precocious teen. She's independent, resourceful, a survivalist, and just a tad bit crazy. She never shuts up, can talk a mile a minute. I was very entertained by her.
When the book first starts, she's giving an interview to the authorities. They'd ask her a simple question, like When did you first notice the hijackers? And April proceeds to go on an hours long spiel about her mother, best friend, Officer Ned, her adopted father (who she hates), her long lineage of family airline employees, everything you did and did not want to know about airplanes, and on, and on, and on. If I had been the investigator, I would have been so pulling my hair out in annoyance. April's ability to ramble on is really unparalleled to any other character I've read. So what should be a rather short story, becomes one epic tale. She was very entertaining.
I loved the cast of characters. I very much felt their pain when it came to dealing with some of April's shenanigans. Officer Ned had to put up with a lot from April. I loved her older flight attendant friend (Flo??) who looked out for her. It was just a very zany ride that I really enjoyed.
Near the end, I won't say I understood all the motivations for everything. After all that rambling, the reveals were very fast and sometimes not the most explained. I also do wonder what's going to happen with April after all that she has discovered.
I'd definitely recommend this for people who are looking for a fun read. It is very entertaining. I enjoyed it. It does feel a little like a hidden gem when it comes to a YA book that is a little different from all the other things being published. I'm definitely getting my hands on the second book because I want to see what April has in store for me next. Unaccompanied Minor was a fun time! And I now know more about aircraft crashes than I ever wanted to. My fear of flying might just be a little more heightened after this.
BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5
One high flying plane adventure!
January 23, 2014
Initial Thoughts: This book had me laughing my head off. April is one heck of a protagonist. She's 15, the daughter of airline employees, the granddaughter of airline employees, and she knows how to navigate airports and the non-rev system well. April is remarkably resourceful - her love of MacGyver combined with her knowledge of airline procedures makes her one of the more interesting characters I've encountered this year.
Christal and I discuss this book for the Jumble Your Genres Challenge – Young Adult on Badass Book Reviews.
The Review:
I’m still chuckling. Unaccompanied Minor brought back memories of a previous life where I worked for an airline and enjoyed non-rev status (cheap flights, squished into the middle seat, running through airports to catch those illegal connections). This book should appeal to young adult readers, their parents, airline enthusiasts, and MacGyver fans.
Fifteen year old April Mae Manning is a third generation child of airline employees. Her grandparents worked for the airline (Granny Mae still does), her mother and late father also worked for the airline, and her step-father is a pilot for the same airline. As a result, April gets to travel non-revenue whenever there’s a seat available.
Due to the divorce of her mother and stepfather, April is forced to travel coast to coast weekly as an unaccompanied minor. April is not happy with the shared custody. After all, Ash is not her real father, nor does he make her feel welcome at his place. She has no room of her own and sleeps on the laundry room floor. He doesn’t even pick her up from the airport. April decides to take matters in her own hands and “runs away” by hanging out at airports and traveling non-rev.
April is a precocious young lady. She is street-smart, extremely resourceful, and has an eclectic repository of knowledge. I loved how April practically memorized all of the airline’s regulations (before iPads and smart phones, these were huge binders that had to be carted around by airline employees). MacGyver is her hero, and in the spirit of MacGyver, April’s skills prove to be very useful.
April surrounds herself with some very good friends. There’s Aunt Flo who is an absolute hoot. Flo is a senior flight attendant who loved to drink and smoke on duty. Aunt Flo always took care of April and allowed her to help out on flights. Malcolm was another child of divorce who traveled coast to coast weekly. Malcolm got April into the frequent flyer club lounge where she could shower, sleep, and get free drinks. I loved Officer Ned, who was on to April’s shenanigans. I think my favorite was the quickie mart clerk LaVonda who was absolutely hilarious and quite helpful to April.
I did love April’s voice. April had a unique way of seeing the world and her observations were deadpan and hilarious.
This book probably appealed to me because of the nostalgia for those good old days when you could fly without taking a lie detector test. I’m happy that a sequel is planned and I can’t wait to see what is in the future for April.
Thank you to NetGalley and F+W/Adams Media for a review copy of this book.
Christal and I discuss this book for the Jumble Your Genres Challenge – Young Adult on Badass Book Reviews.
The Review:
"I'm just an unaccompanied minor. What do I know?"
I’m still chuckling. Unaccompanied Minor brought back memories of a previous life where I worked for an airline and enjoyed non-rev status (cheap flights, squished into the middle seat, running through airports to catch those illegal connections). This book should appeal to young adult readers, their parents, airline enthusiasts, and MacGyver fans.
Fifteen year old April Mae Manning is a third generation child of airline employees. Her grandparents worked for the airline (Granny Mae still does), her mother and late father also worked for the airline, and her step-father is a pilot for the same airline. As a result, April gets to travel non-revenue whenever there’s a seat available.
Due to the divorce of her mother and stepfather, April is forced to travel coast to coast weekly as an unaccompanied minor. April is not happy with the shared custody. After all, Ash is not her real father, nor does he make her feel welcome at his place. She has no room of her own and sleeps on the laundry room floor. He doesn’t even pick her up from the airport. April decides to take matters in her own hands and “runs away” by hanging out at airports and traveling non-rev.
April is a precocious young lady. She is street-smart, extremely resourceful, and has an eclectic repository of knowledge. I loved how April practically memorized all of the airline’s regulations (before iPads and smart phones, these were huge binders that had to be carted around by airline employees). MacGyver is her hero, and in the spirit of MacGyver, April’s skills prove to be very useful.
April surrounds herself with some very good friends. There’s Aunt Flo who is an absolute hoot. Flo is a senior flight attendant who loved to drink and smoke on duty. Aunt Flo always took care of April and allowed her to help out on flights. Malcolm was another child of divorce who traveled coast to coast weekly. Malcolm got April into the frequent flyer club lounge where she could shower, sleep, and get free drinks. I loved Officer Ned, who was on to April’s shenanigans. I think my favorite was the quickie mart clerk LaVonda who was absolutely hilarious and quite helpful to April.
I did love April’s voice. April had a unique way of seeing the world and her observations were deadpan and hilarious.
This book probably appealed to me because of the nostalgia for those good old days when you could fly without taking a lie detector test. I’m happy that a sequel is planned and I can’t wait to see what is in the future for April.
Thank you to NetGalley and F+W/Adams Media for a review copy of this book.
March 19, 2014
I would give this book a *3.5* I was a goodreads first reads winner of the book "Unaccompanied Minor" The narrator of this book is April a girl who just turned 15 years old when the majority of this story takes place. April is a child of divorce, her father a pilot died when she was five. her mother a flight-attendant remarries another pilot. they divorce and now April is sent back and forth by plane to visit her mother and step-father. she is a bright young lady who loves the 1980s tv show "MacGyver" and often uses this show to make homemade objects that help her out of trouble. April has spent many years on an airplane and gets free passage since her parents both work for the airline.
there is a lot of adventure, mystery and danger in this book involving April, relatives, and many "bad guys". there is a kidnapping, then a lot of danger on the jet April is on involving, murder, hi-jacking, homemade bombs. and chaos. It is up to the lead character teenager April to get through all this. her mother taught her "don't freak out, figure it out" along with taking tips from her favorite show Macgyver, her friends Flo teenage friend Malcolm and his service dog Beefheart. and other characters. April does what she can to get the plane landed.
this was a pretty good fun read. I like that April is smart and uses her wits to try and get herself out of a dangerous situation. a nice young adults book that the younger population will enjoy.
there is a lot of adventure, mystery and danger in this book involving April, relatives, and many "bad guys". there is a kidnapping, then a lot of danger on the jet April is on involving, murder, hi-jacking, homemade bombs. and chaos. It is up to the lead character teenager April to get through all this. her mother taught her "don't freak out, figure it out" along with taking tips from her favorite show Macgyver, her friends Flo teenage friend Malcolm and his service dog Beefheart. and other characters. April does what she can to get the plane landed.
this was a pretty good fun read. I like that April is smart and uses her wits to try and get herself out of a dangerous situation. a nice young adults book that the younger population will enjoy.
January 21, 2014
I feel generous rating this four stars, since it's more like a low 3.5 than a high one, I think, but two factors swayed me:
1. The book manages an absolutely zany level of complexity without letting up on the action.
2. The book MORE THAN ONCE made me think I was on an airplane while I was actually riding a bus.
Also, I was initially going to knock points off for the fact that April's statement to the agents questioning her is so unbelievably long and rambling, but that is actually kind of explained later. :P
This is a great one if you like lots and lots of random facts. Our teen protagonist, April, has memorized the flight attendant safety manual and, it seems, the layout of every type of passenger aircraft in the USA. She also knows the causes of, and effects of, every airplane crash ever. Plus she's a rabid fan of the TV show MacGyver, and knows every weird trick MacGyver has ever pulled, allowing her to do things like construct a blowtorch out of a curling iron, an oxygen tank, and spaghetti. (Do you know, every fan of MacGyver I've ever encountered has been fictional? I don't think I know any real person who's ever even seen an episode!)
The author is a flight attendant, which explains why the airport/airplane stuff is so detailed and rings so true. That's pretty neat. Sometimes, though, April just dumps a loooot of information on us. It's usually interesting, not-commonly-known stuff, but it does make her sound like a know-it-all. As she's a fourteen year old who hasn't been socialized that much with her peers, the know-it-all-ness doesn't feel out of place, but if you're bothered by being constantly peppered with facts, this book won't be for you.
1. The book manages an absolutely zany level of complexity without letting up on the action.
2. The book MORE THAN ONCE made me think I was on an airplane while I was actually riding a bus.
Also, I was initially going to knock points off for the fact that April's statement to the agents questioning her is so unbelievably long and rambling, but that is actually kind of explained later. :P
This is a great one if you like lots and lots of random facts. Our teen protagonist, April, has memorized the flight attendant safety manual and, it seems, the layout of every type of passenger aircraft in the USA. She also knows the causes of, and effects of, every airplane crash ever. Plus she's a rabid fan of the TV show MacGyver, and knows every weird trick MacGyver has ever pulled, allowing her to do things like construct a blowtorch out of a curling iron, an oxygen tank, and spaghetti. (Do you know, every fan of MacGyver I've ever encountered has been fictional? I don't think I know any real person who's ever even seen an episode!)
The author is a flight attendant, which explains why the airport/airplane stuff is so detailed and rings so true. That's pretty neat. Sometimes, though, April just dumps a loooot of information on us. It's usually interesting, not-commonly-known stuff, but it does make her sound like a know-it-all. As she's a fourteen year old who hasn't been socialized that much with her peers, the know-it-all-ness doesn't feel out of place, but if you're bothered by being constantly peppered with facts, this book won't be for you.
February 10, 2014
AH and I reviewed this book for the Jumble Your Genres Reading Challenge. See this review and others like it at Badass Book Reviews!
I enjoyed Unaccompanied Minor, but I did have some issues with it. I don't have that personal connection to the airline industry and, while I enjoyed the parts where April would share insider information, I just had a hard time believing this fifteen year old girl would know so much about seemingly everything and that it would be so easy for her to basically live either in the airports or on flights. It just seemed like someone would have caught on to her much earlier or at least realized that she was impersonating her mother.
The thing that I did like about this book was the characters. YA books can tend to fall into a pattern of unknowingly beautiful, special snowflake protagonist and two romantic leads - the solid, but uninteresting good guy and the dangerous bad boy with the heart of gold. Unaccompanied Minor blew right past this stereotype and gave us characters filled with quirk and pluck. April herself was very snarky and thoughtful. Her best friend Malcolm and his emotional support dog Captain Beefcake were awesome, Officer Ned was very heroic and caring, and flight attendant Flo was a hoot and a half!
Though I had my problems with this book, I still thought it was an enjoyable read. Unaccompanied Minor was a very unique addition to the YA genre and introduced some terrific characters, but I just felt like I had to turn my brain off and not think too hard about it to really enjoy this story. I do think this one will appeal to teen readers though, as it is a very sly story with a teen protagonist overcoming the horrible adult presences in her life.
I enjoyed Unaccompanied Minor, but I did have some issues with it. I don't have that personal connection to the airline industry and, while I enjoyed the parts where April would share insider information, I just had a hard time believing this fifteen year old girl would know so much about seemingly everything and that it would be so easy for her to basically live either in the airports or on flights. It just seemed like someone would have caught on to her much earlier or at least realized that she was impersonating her mother.
The thing that I did like about this book was the characters. YA books can tend to fall into a pattern of unknowingly beautiful, special snowflake protagonist and two romantic leads - the solid, but uninteresting good guy and the dangerous bad boy with the heart of gold. Unaccompanied Minor blew right past this stereotype and gave us characters filled with quirk and pluck. April herself was very snarky and thoughtful. Her best friend Malcolm and his emotional support dog Captain Beefcake were awesome, Officer Ned was very heroic and caring, and flight attendant Flo was a hoot and a half!
Though I had my problems with this book, I still thought it was an enjoyable read. Unaccompanied Minor was a very unique addition to the YA genre and introduced some terrific characters, but I just felt like I had to turn my brain off and not think too hard about it to really enjoy this story. I do think this one will appeal to teen readers though, as it is a very sly story with a teen protagonist overcoming the horrible adult presences in her life.
January 3, 2014
This book is just annoying. April Manning is a Nancy Drew like character, only worse because she's boring and unrealistic.
You know those kids that you have to babysit, the ones that just never shut up even if they're right about something? That kid is April, and for the life of me, I could not stop picturing her as a seven year old tugging on my arm. I get it, you have a plan, and you're smart. Shut up. Like I said above, there is a lot of forced humour. And I'm not over exaggerating. There are a few deaths, and they're played off as jokes. The bad guys (if they can even be called that) are complete jokes that barely ever make sense. There's quite a bit of info-dumping, and the story is very disorganized.
Airports are such a fun place, and the idea and the setting for it was what saved Unaccompanied Minor for me. They are very loud and chaotic which is why April got by so easily unnoticed. There are a few surprises though, so that was fun.
Overall, unless you're looking for a Nancy Drew/Scooby Doo and the Gang kind of story then skip this. I felt as if I were reading about a crazy mystery that had too much forced humour and too little seriousness.
January 5, 2014
I liked this book however my complaints were that it jumped around without really good explanation. For example when April was kidnapped, there was no clues given as to the reason behind the kidnapping. Of course it was revealed the reason why later in the book but it was like it was a big secret as to why. Which kind of drove me crazy. I wanted answers but just got questions and more questions as the story went on because nothing was revealed until the end. There was not enough structure. The story went by in a breeze. Thus I could not just enjoy the story as much as I was too busy trying to piece together all that was happening and the "why" factor.
I so wished that I could have liked April more but I could not. I was suppose to cheer for her and I did but I thought she came off at times annoying, too smart for her own good, and a little boring. What I did like about this book was the world of aviation and traveling the skies. I had thought about being a airline stewardess at one point and probably would have done so until I met my husband. This is the type of life that I thought single people would be good for or people who have been doing it a long time before they met their spouse and not during. This type of job does require odd hours and lots of travel time away from home. I am interested to see what Hollis Gillespie comes out with next.
I so wished that I could have liked April more but I could not. I was suppose to cheer for her and I did but I thought she came off at times annoying, too smart for her own good, and a little boring. What I did like about this book was the world of aviation and traveling the skies. I had thought about being a airline stewardess at one point and probably would have done so until I met my husband. This is the type of life that I thought single people would be good for or people who have been doing it a long time before they met their spouse and not during. This type of job does require odd hours and lots of travel time away from home. I am interested to see what Hollis Gillespie comes out with next.
June 18, 2014
An absolutely riveting story of April Manning, who lives her life flying from Atlanta to Los Angeles to accommodate her divorced mother and stepfather. April is being interrogated by several members of law enforcement regarding her part in the bombing of an airplane.
April is a whip-smart fast-talker who is trying to expose her stepfather and his girlfriend of gross misrepresentation and borderline child abuse. She is completely relatable as a narrator and protagonist. She keeps up with current technology and communication, she is sarcastic, she knows how to be aware of her surroundings and use everything she can to her advantage. Or at least go down trying.
This is a unique format for a story. Rather than read in just one medium, such as email communications, the reader is given transcripts, emails, interviews. The reader can easily put herself in April's shoes, trying as hard as she can to prove she's right to people who don't want to listen just because of her status as an unaccompanied minor on WorldAir flights.
Even if you might guess what's coming next, this story will still throw you for a loop in several places. It's definitely worth reading more than once!
April is a whip-smart fast-talker who is trying to expose her stepfather and his girlfriend of gross misrepresentation and borderline child abuse. She is completely relatable as a narrator and protagonist. She keeps up with current technology and communication, she is sarcastic, she knows how to be aware of her surroundings and use everything she can to her advantage. Or at least go down trying.
This is a unique format for a story. Rather than read in just one medium, such as email communications, the reader is given transcripts, emails, interviews. The reader can easily put herself in April's shoes, trying as hard as she can to prove she's right to people who don't want to listen just because of her status as an unaccompanied minor on WorldAir flights.
Even if you might guess what's coming next, this story will still throw you for a loop in several places. It's definitely worth reading more than once!
October 22, 2014
From the Militant Recommender Book Review Blog
http://militantrecommender.blogspot.com/
The Recommender is on a roll! I love being surprised by books that I know nothing about before starting them. I stay away from other reviews and synopsis-es so nothing influences my reading, and from the very first sentence...Hollis Gillespie's "Unaccompanied Minor" had my attention and my heart! I ADORED April Mae Manning, one of the best and most resourceful 15 year old narrators you will ever come across. She comes from an airline industry family which included her flight attendant mother and grandmother to her late airplane mechanic grandfather and pilot father and she knows her stuff when it comes to what makes a plane stay up...or come down.
Her Mom and not so nice step-dad, Ash (also a pilot), who officially adopted April when she was 5, are now divorced and HE is the custodial parent. Thusly...April spends a good deal of time in the air, flying from coast to coast between parents. Her companion on many of these flights is another unaccompanied minor flying back and forth between parents, Malcolm, and his emotional support dog, Captain Beefheart.
I won't give away any more details because April's story is far too wonderful and gripping and smart and so, so funny and... I swear you will be able to keep a plane in the air, or take one down if you had to, after reading "Unaccompanied Minor" (and. also...I may have a slight crush on Officer Ned!)!
I wasn't familiar with Ms. Gillespie before this book, but I am now a super fan of her writing and plan to read her other hilariously titled works... plus, I saw on Amazon, and it's on my wishlist, there WILL be a sequel to "Unaccompanied"!!! Personally, I can't wait!
http://militantrecommender.blogspot.com/
The Recommender is on a roll! I love being surprised by books that I know nothing about before starting them. I stay away from other reviews and synopsis-es so nothing influences my reading, and from the very first sentence...Hollis Gillespie's "Unaccompanied Minor" had my attention and my heart! I ADORED April Mae Manning, one of the best and most resourceful 15 year old narrators you will ever come across. She comes from an airline industry family which included her flight attendant mother and grandmother to her late airplane mechanic grandfather and pilot father and she knows her stuff when it comes to what makes a plane stay up...or come down.
Her Mom and not so nice step-dad, Ash (also a pilot), who officially adopted April when she was 5, are now divorced and HE is the custodial parent. Thusly...April spends a good deal of time in the air, flying from coast to coast between parents. Her companion on many of these flights is another unaccompanied minor flying back and forth between parents, Malcolm, and his emotional support dog, Captain Beefheart.
I won't give away any more details because April's story is far too wonderful and gripping and smart and so, so funny and... I swear you will be able to keep a plane in the air, or take one down if you had to, after reading "Unaccompanied Minor" (and. also...I may have a slight crush on Officer Ned!)!
I wasn't familiar with Ms. Gillespie before this book, but I am now a super fan of her writing and plan to read her other hilariously titled works... plus, I saw on Amazon, and it's on my wishlist, there WILL be a sequel to "Unaccompanied"!!! Personally, I can't wait!
April 15, 2019
A fun read. I reluctantly give 4 stars because it is above average but closer to 3.5 for stylistic and some beyond the realm of believable events. Anyway, the heroine, April, is 15, and a child with a dead father and an unbelievably wicked stepfather who is divorced from April's Mom but retaining custody of April. Her mother is an airline hostess but was not present in the majority of the novel due to being in a hospital for mental illness. The gist of the story is that wicked stepdad tries to get April killed with the help of his new wife who also has ties to the airline business. The entire premise of the story is that April is precocious and from assisting her Mom, and her aunt Flo, also with the airline, knows a LOT about airplanes. Aside question: The author, Hollis Gillespie, is a former airline employee. I wonder if her 15 year old daughter would know as much?
April saves a plane from being hijacked, drugs the hijackers, blows holes in the aircraft, and those are only a small part of her ingenuity and heroism. She is a likeable character and there are a quite a few humorous bits too. I am now going to read #2 of the April Manning series, "We will be crashing shortly." Better fasten my seatbelt!
April saves a plane from being hijacked, drugs the hijackers, blows holes in the aircraft, and those are only a small part of her ingenuity and heroism. She is a likeable character and there are a quite a few humorous bits too. I am now going to read #2 of the April Manning series, "We will be crashing shortly." Better fasten my seatbelt!
January 22, 2014
Couldn't put it down. Hilarious and thrilling from the first page. April Mae Manning uses dead bodies, inflatable rafts, luggage items and anything else she can get her hands on to foil hijackers on her plane. AND she dishes FASCINATING insider knowledge about airplane travel. Her list of "10 Best Ways to Survive a Plane Wreck" should be included on the backs of those safety cards in the seat pockets! And April, though hysterical, is not even the funniest character, the funniest character is a crusty old stewardess named Flo who chain smokes and belts back vodka on the job! Still, I'd take Flo for my stewardess any day. The format of the book is written in police reports, in-flight incident reports and interrogation transcripts, family-court documents, etc, but it reads like a first-person perspective. I thought it was innovative and fun, not to mention informative. A cool side perk was learning why all those silly safety rules are actually important.
March 16, 2014
I loved this book, it was a quick read and it kept me thoroughly entertained all the way through. April is hilarious, even if she is a bit of a snarky know-it-all (I can honestly say I learned a lot of interesting random facts from her), and all of her companions throughout the book are likable and just as fun to read about. Unaccompanied Minor even surprised me at some points, which books rarely do for me anymore. I can usually guess exactly what is going to happen because so many of them are predictable and expected. With Unaccompanied Minor, I honestly wasn't expecting the story line that I received.
I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a fast-paced read with an entertaining protagonist who is amazingly witty and has an amusing group of family and friends which never fails to make you laugh.
I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a fast-paced read with an entertaining protagonist who is amazingly witty and has an amusing group of family and friends which never fails to make you laugh.
December 16, 2020
April Manning comes from a family of flight attendants. After her dad dies, her mom gets remarried to an evil pilot that has her sent to a psychiatric hospital. Now, April uses her mom's free flights/benefits to spend all her time on every flight she can catch. One day, the flight she is on is hijacked! April and her friend, Malcolm have to figure out how they'll fight the hijackers off in mid-air!
This is hands down one of the best protagonists I've ever seen in YA! April was resourceful, witty, sarcastic, smart, and funny. Even though she was 15, she seemed like someone I would totally be friends with. I found myself smirking at the things she said or nodding and agreeing with her when she had random facts to share (a lot of info dumping/facts in this one but it worked well with the story). She honestly reminded me a little of myself because she said she learned some things from watching true crime! That's totally me, resourceful in the strangest way!
This was different from your average YA book with a unique storyline that was really entertaining! If you're looking for something fun to read during this time or in between your serious reads, I definitely recommend picking this up!
Even though I received this in 2014 for review, I thought it'd be better late than never.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc!
This is hands down one of the best protagonists I've ever seen in YA! April was resourceful, witty, sarcastic, smart, and funny. Even though she was 15, she seemed like someone I would totally be friends with. I found myself smirking at the things she said or nodding and agreeing with her when she had random facts to share (a lot of info dumping/facts in this one but it worked well with the story). She honestly reminded me a little of myself because she said she learned some things from watching true crime! That's totally me, resourceful in the strangest way!
This was different from your average YA book with a unique storyline that was really entertaining! If you're looking for something fun to read during this time or in between your serious reads, I definitely recommend picking this up!
Even though I received this in 2014 for review, I thought it'd be better late than never.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc!
December 31, 2017
Wonderful story!
I started this book months after I downloaded it because I didn’t know if it would be any good and other books published by known authors I follow kept coming out. I love these characters and the description of life as an airline flight attendant taught me a lot. Action is continuous and it’s tied together brilliantly at the end. If you’ve never read this author, I highly recommend starting with this one. I never give a five star rating but this one deserves it.
I started this book months after I downloaded it because I didn’t know if it would be any good and other books published by known authors I follow kept coming out. I love these characters and the description of life as an airline flight attendant taught me a lot. Action is continuous and it’s tied together brilliantly at the end. If you’ve never read this author, I highly recommend starting with this one. I never give a five star rating but this one deserves it.
December 11, 2014
Unaccompanied Minor
If this story were not completely fictional, I might be more nervous about the world around me. Buckle up for a non-stop, full-speed novel that unapologetically attacks the credibility of step parents, lawyers, most adults in general, the FBI, the National Transportation Safety Board, law enforcement in general, the family court system, courts in general, banks, inmate-operated animal training programs, airline pilots, flight attendant training and work practices, rules for airline employees that are supposed to keep the flying public safe, baggage handlers, and pilots and flight attendants who prowl the hidden recesses of aircraft with carnal or criminal or rule-breaking intentions when they are supposed to be working. It is fiction, isn’t it?
“Unaccompanied Minor” by Hollis Gillespie, is a fast-paced, and somewhat twisted, flight through the world of April Mae Manning (yes, April Mae), a runaway teen who lives in airports and onboard aircraft, rather than go to a home with an absentee mother (who is in a mental health facility against her will), or to a step father and his new wife (who have money and murder in mind).
We are introduced to a world that April, and really, no teen, should have to live in: abandonment and marginalization by the institutions that are supposed to operate in the best interests of children; and hatefulness and hurtfulness at the hands of the people who are supposed to be entrusted to take care of her. April undergoes rejection, alienation, fear, confusion, disbelief, and pain. She finds herself in the middle of kidnapping, chases, homicides, hijacking, and terror in the skies. What fifteen-year old could endure all of this? If anyone can do it, it is the intrepid, intelligent, resourceful, and unstoppable April.
April quickly establishes herself, her loyalties, and her enemies. She is smart, sassy, and strong-willed. She sees her mother as caring, loving, self-sacrificing, mistreated, and misunderstood. Her deceased father and grandfather are still strong influences on her choices and actions, examples to her of the best in bravery, ingenuity, and unselfishness. Her friends are tough, loyal, devoted, and imperturbable. And her step-father and his wife are selfish, mean, scheming, and violent. April's reality has few gray areas: she unconditionally loves those who are within her circle of trust, and she fully believes not one good thing about the people who have shown her or her friends animosity.
The novel begins with a turbulent, sometimes fractured, account of what April has been doing recently. A normal day for an American teen? Not for April: She is being interviewed by the police and the government about her threat to bomb an airplane, her decision to breach the aircraft’s secured flight deck, and her involvement in a plane crash. April has had an eventful day.
April’s answers to her interrogators’ questions appear to meander all over the place, taking investigators, and the novel’s readers, on a question-and-answer roller coaster. She seems sometimes to lose focus, to make unrelated comments, to rave; her thoughts whirling and spiraling. What we finally find out is that April is not only leading the story’s investigators to the conclusions she wants them to come to, but she is also doing the same thing to Ms Gillespie’s readers. We all join April in an unrelenting series of harrowing, death-defying, and even deadly, events.
April, who worships her institutionalized mother, a career flight attendant, is the child of a multi-generational family of airline employees: pilots, engineers, and flight attendants. She takes her legacy seriously, feeling that she is their heir-apparent, even though it is only by emotional birthright and not actually through employment. We have to remember, that she is, after all, still only a teenager. When she speaks of the contents, rules, training, and information in her mother’s Airline Flight Attendant Manuel, she speaks with religious devotion and zealotry. A child of the airline, she is most comfortable when she is within that world, even when facing the fears that all air travelers have contemplated; crime, danger, and death at 40,000 feet.
Her mother taught her: “Don’t freak out, figure it out”. Employing this mantra, and armed with her MacGyver-esque capabilities in just about any emergency, April navigates turbulence that most teens probably hope to never have to go through. Loss, fear, peril, hopelessness; April and her friends, teen and adult (and animal), go through a maelstrom of trouble. April uses almost super-human ingenuity and force of will to turn the worst circumstances into an almost happy-ish ending.
The author is herself a flight attendant. Ms Gillespie gives us an insider perspective into the aviation world. However, speaking on behalf of most readers, I believe I can say that we hope the raucous, seedy underbelly that we encounter within her book is constructed completely from flight of imagination; although I think that her portrayal may be more true than most air travelers might like.
“Unaccompanied Minor” is an entertaining and engaging interweaving of action, sassiness, drama, practical advice, villainy, and heroics. Once you start reading April’s story, you will be unstoppably, and gladly, swept into the action, emotion, quirkiness, and adventure.
Michael Angel
If this story were not completely fictional, I might be more nervous about the world around me. Buckle up for a non-stop, full-speed novel that unapologetically attacks the credibility of step parents, lawyers, most adults in general, the FBI, the National Transportation Safety Board, law enforcement in general, the family court system, courts in general, banks, inmate-operated animal training programs, airline pilots, flight attendant training and work practices, rules for airline employees that are supposed to keep the flying public safe, baggage handlers, and pilots and flight attendants who prowl the hidden recesses of aircraft with carnal or criminal or rule-breaking intentions when they are supposed to be working. It is fiction, isn’t it?
“Unaccompanied Minor” by Hollis Gillespie, is a fast-paced, and somewhat twisted, flight through the world of April Mae Manning (yes, April Mae), a runaway teen who lives in airports and onboard aircraft, rather than go to a home with an absentee mother (who is in a mental health facility against her will), or to a step father and his new wife (who have money and murder in mind).
We are introduced to a world that April, and really, no teen, should have to live in: abandonment and marginalization by the institutions that are supposed to operate in the best interests of children; and hatefulness and hurtfulness at the hands of the people who are supposed to be entrusted to take care of her. April undergoes rejection, alienation, fear, confusion, disbelief, and pain. She finds herself in the middle of kidnapping, chases, homicides, hijacking, and terror in the skies. What fifteen-year old could endure all of this? If anyone can do it, it is the intrepid, intelligent, resourceful, and unstoppable April.
April quickly establishes herself, her loyalties, and her enemies. She is smart, sassy, and strong-willed. She sees her mother as caring, loving, self-sacrificing, mistreated, and misunderstood. Her deceased father and grandfather are still strong influences on her choices and actions, examples to her of the best in bravery, ingenuity, and unselfishness. Her friends are tough, loyal, devoted, and imperturbable. And her step-father and his wife are selfish, mean, scheming, and violent. April's reality has few gray areas: she unconditionally loves those who are within her circle of trust, and she fully believes not one good thing about the people who have shown her or her friends animosity.
The novel begins with a turbulent, sometimes fractured, account of what April has been doing recently. A normal day for an American teen? Not for April: She is being interviewed by the police and the government about her threat to bomb an airplane, her decision to breach the aircraft’s secured flight deck, and her involvement in a plane crash. April has had an eventful day.
April’s answers to her interrogators’ questions appear to meander all over the place, taking investigators, and the novel’s readers, on a question-and-answer roller coaster. She seems sometimes to lose focus, to make unrelated comments, to rave; her thoughts whirling and spiraling. What we finally find out is that April is not only leading the story’s investigators to the conclusions she wants them to come to, but she is also doing the same thing to Ms Gillespie’s readers. We all join April in an unrelenting series of harrowing, death-defying, and even deadly, events.
April, who worships her institutionalized mother, a career flight attendant, is the child of a multi-generational family of airline employees: pilots, engineers, and flight attendants. She takes her legacy seriously, feeling that she is their heir-apparent, even though it is only by emotional birthright and not actually through employment. We have to remember, that she is, after all, still only a teenager. When she speaks of the contents, rules, training, and information in her mother’s Airline Flight Attendant Manuel, she speaks with religious devotion and zealotry. A child of the airline, she is most comfortable when she is within that world, even when facing the fears that all air travelers have contemplated; crime, danger, and death at 40,000 feet.
Her mother taught her: “Don’t freak out, figure it out”. Employing this mantra, and armed with her MacGyver-esque capabilities in just about any emergency, April navigates turbulence that most teens probably hope to never have to go through. Loss, fear, peril, hopelessness; April and her friends, teen and adult (and animal), go through a maelstrom of trouble. April uses almost super-human ingenuity and force of will to turn the worst circumstances into an almost happy-ish ending.
The author is herself a flight attendant. Ms Gillespie gives us an insider perspective into the aviation world. However, speaking on behalf of most readers, I believe I can say that we hope the raucous, seedy underbelly that we encounter within her book is constructed completely from flight of imagination; although I think that her portrayal may be more true than most air travelers might like.
“Unaccompanied Minor” is an entertaining and engaging interweaving of action, sassiness, drama, practical advice, villainy, and heroics. Once you start reading April’s story, you will be unstoppably, and gladly, swept into the action, emotion, quirkiness, and adventure.
Michael Angel
January 19, 2017
This book is about a young girl who is surrounded by not the ideal of life. Her father passed away and she does not like her mother's new husband. Because of her parent's occupation, she travels a lot by plane; and in fact, begins to live on planes. She becomes very acquainted with the ins and outs of planes. She must be brave and go to the rescue of a hijacking.
This was a good and intriguing book. I was interested to see what would happen next. It was filled with action. It was hard to follow at times, but it was fun and interesting to see the thought process and the pain through the whole ordeal. Even though it jumped back and forth a little bit between past and present, it was written well. My attention was caught and there would be times I would feel emotion for the story. I don't give this book a strong recommendation, but I definitely wouldn't say that this book shouldn't be read.
This was a good and intriguing book. I was interested to see what would happen next. It was filled with action. It was hard to follow at times, but it was fun and interesting to see the thought process and the pain through the whole ordeal. Even though it jumped back and forth a little bit between past and present, it was written well. My attention was caught and there would be times I would feel emotion for the story. I don't give this book a strong recommendation, but I definitely wouldn't say that this book shouldn't be read.
August 15, 2017
I thought this book was hilarious. Poor teen April is living in airports because of a custody battle, and winds up on a flight with friends and enemies and a bomb. Although totally unrealistic, it was a hoot. Reminded me a little bit of this author's books Fun & Games.
August 24, 2019
I purchased this book to fulfill a reading challenge - a story that takes place on a boat, train, or airplane. Although not something I would normally have chosen, it was an enjoyable read.
May 1, 2021
Snappy conversation will keep you interested in this McGyver-esque book about an unusual teen and her dilemma. Very entertaining.
July 24, 2023
i loved this book so much honestly. it took me to plot twist after plot twist.
July 21, 2022
This is a good 3.7, the action was crazy. I love April and officer Ned and of course Flo. I was a bit confused at some parts, a lot of technical words I guess well more like words that are engineer ish I don’t really know.
February 27, 2014
UNACCOMPANIED MINOR was such an unexpected read. April Manning has been shipped back and forth from one side of the country to the other during her parents very bitter divorce. It's become such an whirlwind mishap after mishap that she has to go on the run, living at the airport. Her mother is a flight attendant and has learned everything there is to know about the airline life. She can handle anything, that is until the plane she happens to be on is hijacked and it becomes apparent that it's up to her to stop.
One of the most unique things about this story was that it was told in the form of an interrogation of April by the FBI, NTSB, and a local police department. The opening page captures your attention with somewhat of a gruesome yet intriguing event that takes place, diving the reader into April's interrogation. April is the talkative type and starts her story from the very beginning, and I do mean the very beginning. She goes into quite the detail about the most minuscule things. This did get a bit frustrating and definitely leaned toward the info-dumping side. However, you quickly get very used to April and her way of painting a picture that you want to learn about all these weird events in her life. It helps you get to know her and why she ends up making the decisions she makes later on in the book.
As the story unravels, the reader gets roped into April's tale and you can't help but want to know more. The events that she says take place practically scream impossible but the way in which she tells it has you hanging on to her every word, believing everything. While it does take a while to get to the meat and heart of the story, the hijacking, the events leading up to that will have you reeling. There is some very unexpected, crazy moments that had me glued. If you can get past the shaky beginning, you're not going to be able to set this book down.
April is 14 and one of the smartest girls I have ever read about. Not only does she and her friend know about every possible airplane crash in history, but like I mentioned earlier, she knows everything you could possibly know about airplanes. She knows what flight attendants are supposed to do when, how the airplane flies, proper protocol for certain situations, mechanics, etc. I learned more in this book than I ever thought was possible. Gillespie is a former flight attendant, and it showed! Yeah, I'm a bit freaked out now, but it was so incredibly cool getting this inside look into what working for an airline is like. On top of all that, she's witty!
Going into this book I expected a high stakes action story about being aboard a hijacked plane. What I got was so much more. There is a back story and development and events that slowly line up to create this giant scheme that leaves April in a very dangerous situation. It's written in such a way that lets you know ahead of time that things don't go horribly wrong, but have you reading until the very end to figure what exactly does happen and why. Gillespie has used her extensive knowledge of working as a flight attendant to create a plot that is possibly too realistic. UNACCOMPANIED MINOR will have you learning more information than you probably want to know, but will leave you amazed at how much this 14 year old girl can accomplish.
I received a finished copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
This review can be found at: The Bookish Daydreamer
One of the most unique things about this story was that it was told in the form of an interrogation of April by the FBI, NTSB, and a local police department. The opening page captures your attention with somewhat of a gruesome yet intriguing event that takes place, diving the reader into April's interrogation. April is the talkative type and starts her story from the very beginning, and I do mean the very beginning. She goes into quite the detail about the most minuscule things. This did get a bit frustrating and definitely leaned toward the info-dumping side. However, you quickly get very used to April and her way of painting a picture that you want to learn about all these weird events in her life. It helps you get to know her and why she ends up making the decisions she makes later on in the book.
As the story unravels, the reader gets roped into April's tale and you can't help but want to know more. The events that she says take place practically scream impossible but the way in which she tells it has you hanging on to her every word, believing everything. While it does take a while to get to the meat and heart of the story, the hijacking, the events leading up to that will have you reeling. There is some very unexpected, crazy moments that had me glued. If you can get past the shaky beginning, you're not going to be able to set this book down.
April is 14 and one of the smartest girls I have ever read about. Not only does she and her friend know about every possible airplane crash in history, but like I mentioned earlier, she knows everything you could possibly know about airplanes. She knows what flight attendants are supposed to do when, how the airplane flies, proper protocol for certain situations, mechanics, etc. I learned more in this book than I ever thought was possible. Gillespie is a former flight attendant, and it showed! Yeah, I'm a bit freaked out now, but it was so incredibly cool getting this inside look into what working for an airline is like. On top of all that, she's witty!
Going into this book I expected a high stakes action story about being aboard a hijacked plane. What I got was so much more. There is a back story and development and events that slowly line up to create this giant scheme that leaves April in a very dangerous situation. It's written in such a way that lets you know ahead of time that things don't go horribly wrong, but have you reading until the very end to figure what exactly does happen and why. Gillespie has used her extensive knowledge of working as a flight attendant to create a plot that is possibly too realistic. UNACCOMPANIED MINOR will have you learning more information than you probably want to know, but will leave you amazed at how much this 14 year old girl can accomplish.
I received a finished copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
This review can be found at: The Bookish Daydreamer
December 22, 2016
Title: Unaccompanied Minor - April Mae Manning Book 1
Author: Hollis Gillespie
Published: 1-18-2014
Publisher: F&W/Adams Media
Pages: 256
Genre: Teen & Young Adult
Sub Genre: Fiction; Suspense
ISBN: 9781440567735
ASIN: B00GVHS6AM
Reviewer: DelAnne
Reviewed For: NetGalley
Rating: 4.5 Stars
.
I received a copy of Unaccompanied Minor - April Mae Manning from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
From the Publishers
Fourteen-year-old April May Manning spent her life on airplanes with her flight attendant parents. When her father dies in a crash, April's mom marries a pilot who turns out to be an abusive jerk, and gets Mom confined to a psychiatric hospital. So April takes off, literally, living on airplanes, using her mother's flight benefits, relying on the flight crews who know she's been shuttling between divorcing parents for a year. Then, there's a hijacking, but why is April's "dad" on board? April flees to the cargo hold with another unaccompanied minor she's met before, and they fight to thwart the hijackers, faking a fire, making weapons from things they find in luggage. At last, locked in the cockpit with a wounded police officer, the boy, and his service dog, April tries to remember everything her parents said to do in a crisis above the clouds. But she knows it won't be enough.
April Mae Manning is a character teenagers can relate to in many ways. She is a bit snippy, self contained and completely loyal to those she trust. The characters in this book do not stand back in the shadows, but rather stand up announce themselves boldly. At first the novel a bit confusing to the reader, but it is important to understanding April and even Malcolm to some extent. As you continue the ramblings of April leave you wondering why the investigator allows it, but you soon realize April is leading the interrogation she wants. Once you get into the story, you will not want to put it down. Although written for junior and senior high grades, I must admit I found the story compelling. I especially liked the little tidbit of aviation facts thrown in interesting and looked for them through out the novel.
I found the publishers description of the book's premises better than what I could come up without revealing to much of the plot. A definite book for young readers and even adults who enjoy lighter thrillers. My rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GVHS6AM/...
Barnes and Noble link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unacc...
GoodReads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
The Reading Room link: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.ph...
Author: Hollis Gillespie
Published: 1-18-2014
Publisher: F&W/Adams Media
Pages: 256
Genre: Teen & Young Adult
Sub Genre: Fiction; Suspense
ISBN: 9781440567735
ASIN: B00GVHS6AM
Reviewer: DelAnne
Reviewed For: NetGalley
Rating: 4.5 Stars
.
I received a copy of Unaccompanied Minor - April Mae Manning from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
From the Publishers
Fourteen-year-old April May Manning spent her life on airplanes with her flight attendant parents. When her father dies in a crash, April's mom marries a pilot who turns out to be an abusive jerk, and gets Mom confined to a psychiatric hospital. So April takes off, literally, living on airplanes, using her mother's flight benefits, relying on the flight crews who know she's been shuttling between divorcing parents for a year. Then, there's a hijacking, but why is April's "dad" on board? April flees to the cargo hold with another unaccompanied minor she's met before, and they fight to thwart the hijackers, faking a fire, making weapons from things they find in luggage. At last, locked in the cockpit with a wounded police officer, the boy, and his service dog, April tries to remember everything her parents said to do in a crisis above the clouds. But she knows it won't be enough.
April Mae Manning is a character teenagers can relate to in many ways. She is a bit snippy, self contained and completely loyal to those she trust. The characters in this book do not stand back in the shadows, but rather stand up announce themselves boldly. At first the novel a bit confusing to the reader, but it is important to understanding April and even Malcolm to some extent. As you continue the ramblings of April leave you wondering why the investigator allows it, but you soon realize April is leading the interrogation she wants. Once you get into the story, you will not want to put it down. Although written for junior and senior high grades, I must admit I found the story compelling. I especially liked the little tidbit of aviation facts thrown in interesting and looked for them through out the novel.
I found the publishers description of the book's premises better than what I could come up without revealing to much of the plot. A definite book for young readers and even adults who enjoy lighter thrillers. My rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GVHS6AM/...
Barnes and Noble link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unacc...
GoodReads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
The Reading Room link: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.ph...
November 25, 2014
Airlines, airports and airplanes are in April Mae Manning's DNA. Her grandfather was an engineer who liked to get his hands dirty; her grandmother, mother and father all enjoyed the traveling life of flight attendants. April knows everything there is to know about life on board, as she has traveled more miles than many a professional. She's helped her mom's co-workers study for their various exams, so she has digested everything about the different types of planes, what to do in case of an emergency, and how to get a ride on the jumpseat.
After April's father dies in a plane crash, her mother remarries. Her new "father" is a pilot who adopts April. Then Ash Manning shows his real stripes: he's a big jerk who not only decides to divorce April's mother, but he, with the help of April's court-appointed guardian, gets full custody of April. April's mom checks into a mental facility, and April is basically left to fend for herself. Ash is never home when he is to have April, so she assumes that he is doing all of this just to get back at her mother.
So April takes to the skies, knowing that she can use her mother's badge to get wherever she wants. She has a few friends who look out for her, and she them. But then everything gets really crazy when she realizes that her life is in danger. But why? And, armed with all of her plane protocol/information, can April save the day when her flight is hijacked and all of her friends are aboard?
Whadja Think?: At first, when I read the dust jacket, I thought this book was going to be dry, like reading a training manual or an airplane repair guide. The cover, I must say, is pretty bland and also gives no hints to the truly entertaining book that hides between the boards. April Mae Manning is one of the funniest characters I've seen this year.
April is not only a freaking genius who seems to remember everything about flight attendancy and how to get around belowdecks, but she is so wry and honest about her predicament. She's a problem-solver, and her MacGyver obsession has obviously been put to great use. She doesn't operate in a vacuum, though; her close friends - another unaccompanied minor named Malcolm (and his service dog, Captain Beefheart); a 67-year-old spunky flight attendant named Flo; and Officer Ned Rockwell - all work together to get the plane landed safely.
To Read or Not To Read: Absolutely. You will enjoy the wit, the mystery, the action and the not-so-friendly skies. (Oh and a best supporting character nod to LaVonda Morgenstern.)
Unaccompanied Minor by Hollis Gillespie was published January 1, 2014 by Merit Press. A free copy of this book was given to Ink and Page in return for an honest review. Big thanks to Merit Press and the Author.
Rating: 4
Genre: Young Adult Fiction Contemporary Action/Adventure Thriller
Ages: 13 and up
You Might Want to Know: Some violence
After April's father dies in a plane crash, her mother remarries. Her new "father" is a pilot who adopts April. Then Ash Manning shows his real stripes: he's a big jerk who not only decides to divorce April's mother, but he, with the help of April's court-appointed guardian, gets full custody of April. April's mom checks into a mental facility, and April is basically left to fend for herself. Ash is never home when he is to have April, so she assumes that he is doing all of this just to get back at her mother.
So April takes to the skies, knowing that she can use her mother's badge to get wherever she wants. She has a few friends who look out for her, and she them. But then everything gets really crazy when she realizes that her life is in danger. But why? And, armed with all of her plane protocol/information, can April save the day when her flight is hijacked and all of her friends are aboard?
Whadja Think?: At first, when I read the dust jacket, I thought this book was going to be dry, like reading a training manual or an airplane repair guide. The cover, I must say, is pretty bland and also gives no hints to the truly entertaining book that hides between the boards. April Mae Manning is one of the funniest characters I've seen this year.
April is not only a freaking genius who seems to remember everything about flight attendancy and how to get around belowdecks, but she is so wry and honest about her predicament. She's a problem-solver, and her MacGyver obsession has obviously been put to great use. She doesn't operate in a vacuum, though; her close friends - another unaccompanied minor named Malcolm (and his service dog, Captain Beefheart); a 67-year-old spunky flight attendant named Flo; and Officer Ned Rockwell - all work together to get the plane landed safely.
To Read or Not To Read: Absolutely. You will enjoy the wit, the mystery, the action and the not-so-friendly skies. (Oh and a best supporting character nod to LaVonda Morgenstern.)
Unaccompanied Minor by Hollis Gillespie was published January 1, 2014 by Merit Press. A free copy of this book was given to Ink and Page in return for an honest review. Big thanks to Merit Press and the Author.
Rating: 4
Genre: Young Adult Fiction Contemporary Action/Adventure Thriller
Ages: 13 and up
You Might Want to Know: Some violence
October 17, 2013
Summery:
In Unaccompanied Minor by Hollis Gillespie, April Mae Manning practically breathes the airline industry. With April’s grandfather a former founder, CEO, and mechanic of a airline giant, her mother a flight attendant, her aunt a flight attendant, her father a pilot, and her stepfather a pilot: April is practically a flight attendant herself and idolizes her mother’s flight protocol handbook, knowing just about line by memory and priding herself on it. Not to mention that she is also extensively educated on the mechanics of a plane.
April is a sassy, independent, and fierce young lady. April’s father died when April was rather young, leaving her mother to remarry her stepfather, an abusive and cunning pilot. After a nasty divorce, April’s mother is sent away to a psychiatric hospital and her father off to LA with his new snotty, malicious girlfriend, Kathy.
April is forced to go on the run, living on airplanes and in airports, using her mother’s flight attendant benefits, and relying on fellow flight crew members who have witness the shuttling April has been sent through the duration of the divorce.
When April’s airplane is hijacked with her stepdad aboard, April must use her extensive knowledge of planes to use to stop the hijacking and save all of her friends and family aboard.
Review:
This book was great! In the beginning, I struggled to put myself in the ‘April Mae Manning mindset.’ Once I did, however, I thoroughly enjoy this riveting, saucy book of fun-filled adventures. In the skies or on the ground it was a great read!
Holly Gillespie’s writing style was fairly easy to read. The writing was playful and fun, yet informatively and direct. Although I occasionally got tripped up in details and slang, I though overall it contained enough information to keep me reading.
The weakness of this book is definitely the summery on the jacket and the first 50 or so pages. The summery jacket, to me, sounded like a typical, cheesy adventure and the first 50 pages did not help. As the reader, you are thrown into this twisting tale of family issues and dedication to the business, and in reality it is incredible difficult to follow unless you bear through it and really commit to this wonderful read. The first pages will not immediately grab your interest, but if you commit to it, you will not be let down! I recommend this to anyone looking for a fun, quick read.
In Unaccompanied Minor by Hollis Gillespie, April Mae Manning practically breathes the airline industry. With April’s grandfather a former founder, CEO, and mechanic of a airline giant, her mother a flight attendant, her aunt a flight attendant, her father a pilot, and her stepfather a pilot: April is practically a flight attendant herself and idolizes her mother’s flight protocol handbook, knowing just about line by memory and priding herself on it. Not to mention that she is also extensively educated on the mechanics of a plane.
April is a sassy, independent, and fierce young lady. April’s father died when April was rather young, leaving her mother to remarry her stepfather, an abusive and cunning pilot. After a nasty divorce, April’s mother is sent away to a psychiatric hospital and her father off to LA with his new snotty, malicious girlfriend, Kathy.
April is forced to go on the run, living on airplanes and in airports, using her mother’s flight attendant benefits, and relying on fellow flight crew members who have witness the shuttling April has been sent through the duration of the divorce.
When April’s airplane is hijacked with her stepdad aboard, April must use her extensive knowledge of planes to use to stop the hijacking and save all of her friends and family aboard.
Review:
This book was great! In the beginning, I struggled to put myself in the ‘April Mae Manning mindset.’ Once I did, however, I thoroughly enjoy this riveting, saucy book of fun-filled adventures. In the skies or on the ground it was a great read!
Holly Gillespie’s writing style was fairly easy to read. The writing was playful and fun, yet informatively and direct. Although I occasionally got tripped up in details and slang, I though overall it contained enough information to keep me reading.
The weakness of this book is definitely the summery on the jacket and the first 50 or so pages. The summery jacket, to me, sounded like a typical, cheesy adventure and the first 50 pages did not help. As the reader, you are thrown into this twisting tale of family issues and dedication to the business, and in reality it is incredible difficult to follow unless you bear through it and really commit to this wonderful read. The first pages will not immediately grab your interest, but if you commit to it, you will not be let down! I recommend this to anyone looking for a fun, quick read.
September 18, 2015
I did find Unaccompanied Minor amusing, but I think it had a lot of problems in terms of pace and plotting.
Unaccompanied Minor is a short, YA adventure novel about a fourteen year old girl who comes from a long legacy of airline employees. When her mom’s in a psychiatric hospital and someone tries to kidnap her from her stepfather’s apartment, fourteen year old April Manning survives by living in airport lounges and passing as a flight attendant. Then, she happens to be on a plan when it gets unexpectedly hijacked by the same people who tried to kidnap her earlier. She has to save the day with the help of a wounded police officer, another unaccompanied minor, his service dog, and a 67 year old flight attendant named Flo.
Unaccompanied Minor is told through a compilation of various documents, mainly an after the fact interview by the police. I don’t think this structure worked well. For one, it meant that the entire first half of the book kept suggesting what would happen and referring to future events, which took forever to arrive. This is not a long book – only about 250 pages – but so much of it was spent explaining April’s family history instead of focusing on the main events. That combined with the style led to an ambling mess of a book.
All that said, Unaccompanied Minor was still funny in parts, if not laugh out loud hilarious. There were a few good running jokes – I liked the repetition of “We see things differently.” However, the most interesting part of this book was its setting in the aviation industry (particularly since it was written by a flight attendant…). It led me to wonder how many of the insiders secrets were true, such as the character Flo who had a secret smoking spot on every different model plane.
In the end, I would only reluctantly recommend Unaccompanied Minor as a lighter read.
Originally posted on
Unaccompanied Minor is a short, YA adventure novel about a fourteen year old girl who comes from a long legacy of airline employees. When her mom’s in a psychiatric hospital and someone tries to kidnap her from her stepfather’s apartment, fourteen year old April Manning survives by living in airport lounges and passing as a flight attendant. Then, she happens to be on a plan when it gets unexpectedly hijacked by the same people who tried to kidnap her earlier. She has to save the day with the help of a wounded police officer, another unaccompanied minor, his service dog, and a 67 year old flight attendant named Flo.
Unaccompanied Minor is told through a compilation of various documents, mainly an after the fact interview by the police. I don’t think this structure worked well. For one, it meant that the entire first half of the book kept suggesting what would happen and referring to future events, which took forever to arrive. This is not a long book – only about 250 pages – but so much of it was spent explaining April’s family history instead of focusing on the main events. That combined with the style led to an ambling mess of a book.
All that said, Unaccompanied Minor was still funny in parts, if not laugh out loud hilarious. There were a few good running jokes – I liked the repetition of “We see things differently.” However, the most interesting part of this book was its setting in the aviation industry (particularly since it was written by a flight attendant…). It led me to wonder how many of the insiders secrets were true, such as the character Flo who had a secret smoking spot on every different model plane.
In the end, I would only reluctantly recommend Unaccompanied Minor as a lighter read.
Originally posted on
January 2, 2015
A great tall tale in the American tradition. Loved having a smart snarky female protagonist and a slew of other quirky characters. I stayed up late reading wondering what was going to happen next! It was hard to tell where the book was going with its twists and turns and bad guys showing up.
The random facts about airline rules and past accidents added interest especially if you are the kind of person that buys the Worst Case Scenario books. I'll definitely remember this book when I'm on an airplane. I always count the rows from the exit when I get on and look at the safety brochure. (And make sure there is a barf bag in the seat pocket.) The plane April is on takes a few dives and I'm sure some of the passengers lost their cookies. They were out of luck if they didn't keep their seat belts buckled and their carry-ons safely stowed. I find it entertaining to just look at the safety videos from Air New Zealand on the internet. This book is a bit like that--you get adventure and pointers on aircraft safety.
Probably my only complaint is that the book is a bit chopped up and the Preliminary Accident Report interview format at the beginning of some of the chapters didn't help the flow at all. I would have liked more details about her various relatives and their lives so I could have understood all her references to the fact that she comes from a long line of aircraft people. Her past wasn't filled in enough and didn't always make sense.
Could family court be as bad as the author makes out? I've known a few GALs in Washington state and they seemed like great people. The book made me think about how a minor might feel when she doesn't have a voice when major decisions about her life are determined. How many kids really do have to fly back and forth between parents' houses on a regular bases?
The book got me to think about a lot of things in addition to being a fun wild crazy adventure story.
The random facts about airline rules and past accidents added interest especially if you are the kind of person that buys the Worst Case Scenario books. I'll definitely remember this book when I'm on an airplane. I always count the rows from the exit when I get on and look at the safety brochure. (And make sure there is a barf bag in the seat pocket.) The plane April is on takes a few dives and I'm sure some of the passengers lost their cookies. They were out of luck if they didn't keep their seat belts buckled and their carry-ons safely stowed. I find it entertaining to just look at the safety videos from Air New Zealand on the internet. This book is a bit like that--you get adventure and pointers on aircraft safety.
Probably my only complaint is that the book is a bit chopped up and the Preliminary Accident Report interview format at the beginning of some of the chapters didn't help the flow at all. I would have liked more details about her various relatives and their lives so I could have understood all her references to the fact that she comes from a long line of aircraft people. Her past wasn't filled in enough and didn't always make sense.
Could family court be as bad as the author makes out? I've known a few GALs in Washington state and they seemed like great people. The book made me think about how a minor might feel when she doesn't have a voice when major decisions about her life are determined. How many kids really do have to fly back and forth between parents' houses on a regular bases?
The book got me to think about a lot of things in addition to being a fun wild crazy adventure story.
September 30, 2015
{My Thoughts} – April Manning is a teenage girl that at the beginning of the book doesn’t appear to have a care in the world. When you are first introduced to her she is on an airplane sitting next to her friend Malcolm discussing airplane crash trivia. I have to admit if I were on an airplane, that is probably the last thing that I would want to be discussing with anyone. Malcolm also has in his lap and emotional support animal, his best friend a little lapdog that means the world to him and has began to mean the world to April. April and Malcolm both fly as Unaccompanied Minors in order to get to and from the location where each of their parents live on opposite sides of the States.
Their flight on this particular day along with the events that led up to this day are rather unusual circumstances. It appears that April has run into some bad luck in the karma department. She was recently kidnapped and dropped in a trunk with the corpse of one of her friends. She then boarded this plane while assumed to be on the run. This particular plane, however, was hijacked with her on board. There is a lot that transpires on this plane trip that does eventually end, just not in good favor of all those involved.
I really enjoyed reading this book as it was a wonderful page turner that easily held my interest. I enjoyed reading the story as it was happening and also April’s account of what had happened. April is an interesting character that seems to be caught in the middle of a messy divorce, Malcolm is in the same situation and then there are Flo a flight attendant that April is friends with and a few other special characters mentioned throughout the book. The thing I enjoyed most about the book is that not everyone that you meet at first are who they are in the end of the book. I highly enjoy plot twists and this book handled them exceptionally well and I look forward to reading the next book in the series in the very near future!
Their flight on this particular day along with the events that led up to this day are rather unusual circumstances. It appears that April has run into some bad luck in the karma department. She was recently kidnapped and dropped in a trunk with the corpse of one of her friends. She then boarded this plane while assumed to be on the run. This particular plane, however, was hijacked with her on board. There is a lot that transpires on this plane trip that does eventually end, just not in good favor of all those involved.
I really enjoyed reading this book as it was a wonderful page turner that easily held my interest. I enjoyed reading the story as it was happening and also April’s account of what had happened. April is an interesting character that seems to be caught in the middle of a messy divorce, Malcolm is in the same situation and then there are Flo a flight attendant that April is friends with and a few other special characters mentioned throughout the book. The thing I enjoyed most about the book is that not everyone that you meet at first are who they are in the end of the book. I highly enjoy plot twists and this book handled them exceptionally well and I look forward to reading the next book in the series in the very near future!
May 16, 2014
April, our fearless protagonist. Descended from a long line of airline workers, most recently her mother (off-scene in the book), her father (long since deceased), and her despised stepfather. At 14, April has spent much of her life on planes, and studying planes, and preparing to be a flight attendant as soon as she is legally able. She's smart. She's independent. She's deeply, deeply irritating.
She's also on the run, and it's going to take all her resources to free herself after a kidnapping, evade her stepfather -- and, oh yes, foil a hijacking.
It bears repeating: April is annoying. She has few filters, doesn't tend to apply rules to herself, and knows how to get under the skin of character after long-suffering character. But you also have to admire her -- she's tenacious, and creative, and has a (not entirely believable) understanding of planes to rival any professional. At 14, she's interested in flirting primarily out of curiosity; as a female protagonist in the land of YA literature, she's refreshing.
Plot-wise: Do I believe it? No. Not remotely. I'll believe what the author is telling me about planes (and, sure, trunks and airline regulations and so on) but not so much that April would have such extensive knowledge to draw on. The truly craptastic work of the family court strikes me as over the top. (My knowledge of any court is limited at best, so I could be wrong. But, well, it's kind of catastrophically bad here.) I'm not really sold on Flo's revelation.
Not going on my (hypothetical) list of Best Books Ever. Is going on my (also hypothetical) I Should Read the Sequel list.
I received a free copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.
She's also on the run, and it's going to take all her resources to free herself after a kidnapping, evade her stepfather -- and, oh yes, foil a hijacking.
It bears repeating: April is annoying. She has few filters, doesn't tend to apply rules to herself, and knows how to get under the skin of character after long-suffering character. But you also have to admire her -- she's tenacious, and creative, and has a (not entirely believable) understanding of planes to rival any professional. At 14, she's interested in flirting primarily out of curiosity; as a female protagonist in the land of YA literature, she's refreshing.
Plot-wise: Do I believe it? No. Not remotely. I'll believe what the author is telling me about planes (and, sure, trunks and airline regulations and so on) but not so much that April would have such extensive knowledge to draw on. The truly craptastic work of the family court strikes me as over the top. (My knowledge of any court is limited at best, so I could be wrong. But, well, it's kind of catastrophically bad here.) I'm not really sold on Flo's revelation.
Not going on my (hypothetical) list of Best Books Ever. Is going on my (also hypothetical) I Should Read the Sequel list.
I received a free copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.
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