Book Review: Zero Day by Jan Gangsei

 I have received a complimentary copy of this book to review from Disney Book Group.

 The opinions here are 100% mine!  This post contains affiliate links.

Robert Langdon meets Mark Zuckerburg in the computer-based mystery Zero Day by Jan Gangsei.  This new young-adult novel centers around Addie Webster, daughter of the president, who was kidnapped eight years ago.  This book kept me guessing for its entirety, which is not easily accomplished as I usually guess ending shortly in.  The twists of the terrorists acts, Addie's technology capabilities, and the whereabouts of Addie for all those years kept up late reading in order to find out what happens.

Addie returns to her family (now the first family of the United States) as mysteriously as she disappeared and reconnects with her childhood friend Darrow, whose mother is the Chief of Staff.  Addie has, in the time she was gone, picked up some extensive knowledge of computer systems.  What has Addie been up to these past eight years?  Does she have any connection to the terrorist acts playing out under her father's presidency? and What is she hiding from Darrow?

The only wish I had for the book was to have some of the why questions answered before the end.  It felt as though there was some more back story among Addie's kidnapper, her mother, and her father that didn't get properly cleared up.  I did get the feeling that Jan is setting us up for a second novel in a series.

Addie and Darrow are presented with situations that will enable young-adult readers to connect with them.  Political thrillers are not something I come across often in young-adult literature, but they are one of my favorite genres to pick up, so it make my heart happy to have novels for younger readers to expose them to a whole new set of literature.

Zero Day will make a captivating addition to any curriculum or reading list.  Certainly it will be on my recommendation list for our next media center order and will be prominently featured in a book talk in my classroom.  The strong female lead provides a refreshing addition to the realm of technology and mystery in young-adult fiction.