FALL FROM GRACE

The acclaimed author of YOU explores issues of choice and free will in an entertaining and discussion-provoking caper novel.

Grace is a girl on a mission. She has plans - a plan to get famous, a plan to get rich, and - above all - her plan to have fun. So when Grace meets Sawyer at a Model United event, she cannot help but rope him into a little extra fun by stealing a competing team's paper. Sawyer tags along; after all, his plans are mader for him by his mother, his father, his girlfriend - why should he not do what he wants? Like choosing what college he wants to go to, although that means passing an impossible precalculus exam. Luckily, Grace has a plan for that. One that involves Sawyer wearing glasses equipped with a camera and speaker for Grace to tell him the answers as she sits in Starbucks.

As the unlikely friendship grows, Sawyer learns more about Grace: the lonely evenings she spends at the soup kitchen, the stories she tells that only hint at the truth, the secrets he cannot quite figure out. But with a magnetic smile and charismatic request, Sawyer finds himself in the getaway car as Grace snatches a painting from the local library. But Grace's sights are set on something bigger, on a piece of priceless artwork from a museum - and Sawyer cannot help but feel the thrill of doing what he wants rather than what everyone else has planned for him. And running through the museum together with their prize is a whole lot of fun - until the police sirens start. Was this Grace's get-famous plan all along? Sawyer has to decide: tell the District Attorney all about Grace's plans like his parents want, or stay loyal and go to jail.

Charles Benoit is a former high school teacher and the Edgar Award-nominated author of three adult mystery novels published by Poison Pen Press. His first book for young adults, YOU, was published in Fall 2010. He lives in Rochester, NY. You can visit him online at www.charlesbenoit.com and follow him on Twitter (@BenoitTheWriter).