Flying: Cheerleader vs. alien. Who will win?

Written by Carrie Jones

Narrated by Kate Reinders

New York Times bestselling author Carrie Jones introduces sassy alien-hunting cheerleader Mana in Flying, the launch of a sparkling new YA SF series.

People have always treated seventeen-year-old Mana as someone in need of protection. She’s used to being coddled, being an only child, but it’s hard to imagine anything could ever happen in her small-town, normal life. As her mother’s babying gets more stifling than ever, she’s looking forward to cheering at the big game and getting out of the house for a while.

But that night, Mana’s life goes haywire.

First, the hot guy she’s been crushing on at school randomly flips out and starts spitting acid during the game. Then they get into a knockdown, drag-out fight in the locker room, during which Mana finds herself leaping around like a kangaroo on steroids. As a flyer on the cheerleading squad, she’s always been a good jumper, but this is a bit much. By the time she gets home and finds her house trashed and an alien in the garage, Mana starts to wonder if her mother had her reasons for being overprotective.

It turns out, Mana’s frumpy, timid mom is actually an alien hunter, and now she’s missing—taking a piece of technology with her that everyone wants their hands on, both human and alien. Now her supposed partner, a guy that Mana has never met or heard of (and who seems way too young and way too arrogant to be hunting aliens), has shown up, ordering Mana to come with him. Now, on her own for the first time, Mana will have to find a way to save her mother—and maybe the world—and hope she’s up to the challenge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Jul 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781480530942

Carrie Jones

Carrie Jones is the New York Times bestselling author of the Need series—which includes Need, Captivate, and Entice—as well as Girl, Hero; Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape); and Tips on Having a Gay (Ex) Boyfriend. She is the coauthor, with Steven E. Wedel, of After Obsession. Carrie lives in Maine with a scrawny cat, an obese cat, two tremendously large white dogs, and occasional pixies.

Reviews for Flying

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a fun science fiction story. Mana is an ordinary cheerleader with an ordinary mom until the day the hottie she had been crushing on starts spitting acid and she does amazing ninja leaps to get away from him. Heading home she finds that her house has been trashed and her mom has disappeared.When she meets China, who claims to be her mom's partner, Mana is introduced to a world of aliens and Men in Black and she doesn't know who she can or should trust. Luckily, she has the support of her best friend and potential love interest Lyle in the hunt for her mother.This story is a race to find out what is going on and find Mana's mother before something awful happens to her. Along the way Mana learns more about herself, her world, and her best friend. Fans of science fiction with humor will enjoy this one.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

teen fiction--action/adventure fantasy (aliens and superpowered cheerleaders) with a dash of romance, and incidental ethnicity (Mana initially identifies as Hapa/half-asian, one of her BFFs happens to be black). A terrific ride of a book that I finished in 4 and a half hours despite needing to wake up early the next morning. Though I see that other folks were disappointed in this book (among the complaints: not enough cheerleading, too sci-fi, "dull" dialogue), I actually really liked the characters and their snarky, geeky sarcasm.

Looking forward to more in this series.

[khaddox-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book was provided to me as a digital review copy by the publisher, via Edelweiss.

Mana is your typical teenage girl: crushing on cute boys, not overly concerned about school, and cheering for the basketball team. It’s during a basketball game that Mana begins to think that maybe her world isn’t as normal as she thought. First, the boy she has a huge crush on is kidnapped right out of the bleachers, and then, when she tracks the kidnapper and cute boy to the girls’ locker room, she exhibits skills that she has never had before. After the basketball game, Mana discovers her house ransacked and her mother missing. Now she has to figure out how to find her mother, who to trust, and whether it’s okay to be maybe almost in love with her best guy friend.

Flying was a quick, easy read. It had some nice action scenes, and the interactions were pretty funny at times. I worried at first that this would just be a Buffy re-run, but was pleasantly surprised. Overall, I liked the characters and the story, but there is something about it that niggles at me. It feels that the author went a little overboard making Mana believably teenager-y. Seppie and Lyle came across as realistic, but Mana seems almost inane. This is possibly because the book is written from her point of view, and therefore we are privy to her thoughts, and honestly, who really knows what’s going on inside a teenager’s head?