"Smokescreen" is a dramatic young adult novel, about growing up, about forging the bonds of friendship, about testing the waters of love, and, of course, all of this takes place against the backdrop of a large-scale forest fire. Questions arise as to who set off the fire and why, who can be trusted in the two protagonists' surroundings and who cannot. Are people really who they seem to be? Can the two main characters' friendship survive the strains their surroundings are putting on it? Eventually, after a series of adventures fraught with peril, all of these questions are satisfyingly resolved. Evidently, there's a lot of growing up that can happen in one summer. ( )

I did like this very quick read. However, I felt that there was something missing at times. Almost as if the author just wanted to be finished. It was an engaging story though, not sure my kids would enjoy it like I did. ( )

I received this book from Early Reviewers. At first I thought I would really enjoy the book, but then as I delved further into it, I thought it was rushed, and lots of things I felt were skipped over. So, not my most favorite read as of late. I think it had potential for a bit longer book. It's a teen book, but I don't think my kids would pick it up. ( )

An action-packed story about friendship, firefighting and survival. Set in northwestern Ontario Canada, the main character is 17 year old Kerry, who resents her mom for sending her out to the wilderness for a summer job digging septic holes. She's not initially impressed by her cabinmate, Yvette, who is older and more experienced at camping, but gradually the two become friends, bonding over being the only two females in a camp full of male workers. Their job gets suddenly more exciting when they are sent to a firefighters' base camp to cook for fifty men while they fight an arson-caused forest fire. Kerry has to learn to do a lot of hard work, and gets involved in a mystery. Evidence suggests that Yvette may be the arsonist, or perhaps the cute firefighter that Kerry is becoming close to; there are other suspects as well, and Kerry has to sort it out and keep herself safe at the same time as the action intensifies and the bad guys make their move.

A good book with a unique setting and a nice suspenseful plot with unforeseen twists. Tiny quibbles: I was distracted by trying to figure out exactly where in Canada this took place. I thought the setting was "northwestern Canada" and it's not made clear until a third of the way into the book that it's northwestern Ontario, which to me looks like Central Canada; and, one character is described as "Metis" several times and as an American I had no idea what that meant, had to look it up. It's clear from context that there is some racial bigotry going on, but it wasn't really explained that this was a Native person. But I suppose a Canadian reader would have known that right off the bat.
I received a copy of this book from Early Reviewer. ( )

This new young-adult novel is set in the northern woods of Ontario and follows two teenage girls working at a fire-fighting camp. There is a mystery underlying the story, as the girls try to figure out who is deliberately setting the forest fires. The novel started off well, with a good premise, but I found the characters one-dimensional and the dialogue awkward and unnatural. What saves the novel is the interesting and unusual setting which sets it apart from the typical young-adult adventure story. ( )