2/19/09 review

Alyssa Herman
Book Review
2/18/09
Jude by Kate Morgenroth. Still staggering from his drug-dealing father’s murder, moving in with the wealthy mother he never knew, and transferring to a private school, fifteen-year-old Jude is tricked into pleading guilty to a crime he did not commit.
Fifteen–year–old Jude believes that his mother abandoned him at birth. When his heroin–dealer father is murdered, the authorities discover that he is the son of DA and mayor candidate Anna Grady, and that he was kidnapped by his father at three weeks old. His mother welcomes him into her comfortable life and sends him to a private prep school. When a schoolmate dies of an overdose, Jude, though innocent, is mixed up. His mother's boyfriend, Harry, the deputy police commissioner, convinces him to take part in an elaborate charade to help Anna get elected on an anti–drug platform. Harry promises that once she's elected he will come forward with evidence that Jude is innocent. Instead, Jude is tried as an adult, sent to the state penitentiary for five years, and finds that Harry never meant to get him out at all. When Jude finally gets out he is more than determined to prove to his mom and everyone else that he is innocent.
Jude is full of suspense. Every moment kept me on my feet and waiting to see what was going to happen next. It was well written and I really enjoyed reading it. Kate Morgenroth has written other books, such as; Kill me first, Saved, Echo, and They did it with Love. I would like to read any other of her books. She’s a great writer and has great themes and ideas.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense and great writing. This novel was intense, and hard to put down. Anyone of the age 13 and up would enjoy this book. Boy or girl. The basic idea of the book was good. About a boy who was confused and lost and had to turn it around on his own.