Skyjacked by Paul Griffin is the kind of book I can see appealing to both boys and girls. It’s action-packed, full of questions and surprises, and a twist that’s both unexpected and sad. 

It’s told from the viewpoints of six different characters. Through alternating chapters, we learn about daredevil Cassie; her childhood friend, Brandon; her best friend, Emily; her sort-of boyfriend, Tim; the newcomer, Jay. Heading home after a hiking trip, what should have been a simple flight to DC turns into a nightmare when Jay realizes the plane is heading in the wrong direction. Then one of the friends falls mysteriously ill, and the pilot stops responding to their questions. As the situation escalates out of control, loyalties shift and suspicions are directed toward each other, and no one is certain of making it through the ordeal alive.

For the most part, there is a lot of violence and suspense, but not overly graphic or content-heavy. It’s really just a straight up action/adventure story. I think readers of the Alex Rider series would really enjoy this.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Scholastic

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None

Violence/Gore:  Many instances of violence and gore, including but not limited to: Report of death; a character is put through an intense simulation; a character deliberately puts herself in danger; a character seems to fall to her death; characters discuss terrorism; friends have an argument; a character feels sick; a character vomits blood; implication of a possible hostage situation; characters work on a situation involving a missing plane; a character remembers accidentally breaking someone’s ribs; a character dies; in an extended scene, characters discuss ways to take back a plane, talk about ransom demands, and ways to break a cockpit door; a character reports getting knocked out and tied up; report of injuries sustained after getting hit with fire extinguisher powder; a character reads a report on PTSD; in an extended scene, characters plan another way to storm a cockpit, they argue and accuse each other of conspiring to take over a plane, and a character describes ways to neutralize a threat; in an extended scene, characters react with stress, a character strikes someone with a bottle of water, characters grapple for a gun, characters are threatened, characters try to figure out who’s guilty of conspiracy; a character is critically injured and dies; an adult threatens children; description of a dead man and characters’ shock; characters shoot property; report of an explosion; a character discovers the motivation behind someone’s plot; a character makes a sacrifice to save others; characters suffer trauma.

Sex/Nudity:  A girl is attracted to a boy; a boy and girl kiss; a boy thinks about his past experiences with a girl before kissing her.

Mature Subject Matter:

Suicide; Murder; Poison; Death of a child; Death of a friend; Reckless behavior; Revenge; Sabotage.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

None