The Assassin's Guide to Babysitting by Natalie C. Parker
Published by Candlewick Press on January 7, 2025
ISBN: 153623009X
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
Format: Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads

A fun, high-tension, high-thrill novel set in a shadowy Kansas City where a society of Talented people lives alongside – and unnoticed by – regular humans. Tru is the most unusual type of talent, most of whom fit into one of four groups based on the special skill they are born with (strongarm, wingtip, bullseye or bombshell). She’s a bastion, which means she can’t be easily hurt. Her parents were killed protecting her secret, and she was raised by a former assassin who taught her how to hide. The action kicks off when Tru is on what appears to be a normal babysitting job, and masked intruders break in, demanding the one-year-old she has been watching. Tru escapes with the baby (also being targeted for being a bastion, she later discovers), but in the skirmish her secret is discovered. Her guardian is killed protecting her and she and her band of three friends are suddenly on the run from assassins. Tru and her friends work to keep themselves and the baby alive, and to figure out who they can trust while being pursued by talented bounty hunters. Readers will enjoy worldbuilding, excellent character development and suspense paired with an original plotline. A subtle subplot builds in the second half of the book with a budding romance between Tru and her friend Sage’s older sister Lila, one of the bounty hunters chasing the friends down. Snappy and fast paced, this is a hard book to put down.

5 stars

Reviewed by Jenny Martinez Nocito, Maine State Library, Augusta