Skandal
by Lindsay Smith
Macmillan (April 7, 2015)
Audience: Young Adult
IndieBound | WorldCat
"The dramatic sequel to Sekret, this psychic Cold War espionage thriller follows Yulia to Washington, DC, where she fights to discover the truth about her family without losing control of her mind.
My mind is mine alone.
Life in Washington, D.C., is not the safe haven Yulia hoped for when she risked everything to flee communist Russia. Her father is reckless and aloof, and Valentin is distant and haunted by his past. Her mother is being targeted by the CIA and the US government is suspicious of Yulia's allegiance. And when super-psychics start turning up in the US capitol, it seems that even Rostov is still a threat. Ultimately, Yulia must keep control of her own mind to save the people she loves and avoid an international Skandal."
Carolyn's thoughts on the book:
I adored Lindsay Smith's first novel, Sekret, and Skandal is a fantastic sequel. A sharp contrast to the harsh setting of the KGB compound in Moscow, Skandal takes place in the groovy environment of 1960s Washington DC, but a change in scenery doesn't mean any less intrigue or secrets. Yulia is caught between countries, neither of which has her best interests at heart, but if she has any hope of rescuing her mother and her brother, she's forced to play both sides. While America is vastly different from Russia, her situation is strikingly similar: forced to work for a government agency she doesn't quite trust or agree with, alongside colleagues loath to trust her. Finally reunited with her father and free to love her boyfriend, Valentin, Yulia is with two of the people who love her most and yet feels isolated in this strange new country. The choice of loyalty is really a choice between those Yulia loves most: her father or her mother, her boyfriend or her brother. But when members of the psychic team she's working with are attacked, Yulia realizes that there's a lot more at stake than the lives of those she loves. Fraught relations with North Vietnam bring the East-West conflict to a head between the Russian and American psychic teams, though everything is blanketed in lies and subterfuge. Cold War tensions culminate in the 1964 Pathway for Peace, where the KGB and the CIA vie for control over the politicians who will decide whether or not to plunge the world into war. Ultimately, Yulia's choices will forever impact her future, her family, and the entirety of both the US and the USSR.
Carolyn is a teen blogger who shares her favorite YA reads and favorite book related finds with readers on Fridays.