Great story about a siege in a shopping mall where 5 teenagers must fight for survival. Fans of "Five Survive" will like this as it has a great plot twist in it that I did NOT see coming - bravo to the author to hide that one as I can usually pick them!! Some of the teenagers are by themselves in a shop away from the terrorists, and one is with the hostages but manages to escape and look for his little sister. They must decide whether they should try to escape or ( when one of them if captured by a double-crossing security guard) rescue the person who has been captured. There is also a very believable sub-plot as to why the whole thing has been masterminded - not as a way to bring attention to a new manifesto for America . (Although the gunmen themselves believe this) but rather as a distraction so their leader can undertake a huge bank robbery and tie up all law enforcement with the siege. Full of suspense and tension, students will love this book. ( )

April Henry writes fast paced, suspenseful YA books. I love recommending her books to my students and I always enjoy spending a day pulled into one of her novels. This one involves a mass shooting at a mall. A terrifying premise. ( )

Six random teens are caught near the Fairgate Mall's Food Court when the shooting starts. They need to work together when domestic terrorists begin killing people.

Miranda Nash was in the Mall shoplifting to support her Oxy habit. Javier Ramirez was working cleaning the tables. He's an undocumented alien. Amina Abdi was working at Culpepper's. She's Muslim, American by birth, and wears a hijab. Grace Busby is there with her mother who is among the first to be shot. Grace and her mother were fleeing to Mexico for medical treatment for Grace's lymphoma. Parker Gray was there hanging out on a day off school and loosely supervising his 7-year-old sister. Cole Bond is also there and keeps thinking that the whole thing is a like a video game that couldn't be real.

While Miranda, Grace, Javier, and Cole take shelter in the storage room of Culpepper's, Parker is too busy looking for his little sister Moxie and is rounded up by the terrorists.

Interspersed with accounts from the teens are 911 calls and other information about what is happening outside the Mall including a truck hijacking of a truck carrying gold and silver on its way to jewelers.

The story was very intense. The narrator did a great job keeping the tension high as the kids need to decide if they will run, hide, or fight back. I liked that we got to know the characters and get some idea of their motives and states of mind as they dealt with this terrible occurrence.

I did a combination read/listen with this one. I listened to the first two-thirds of the story and then switched to reading so that I could find out what happened more quickly. ( )

"Run, Hide, Fight Back" was a quick, intense read that had me hooked from page one. With short chapters, social media posts, reports, transcripts and drama galore, I found myself racing to the end. The book only spans three hours and the tension is palpable as the police try to bring down the shooters.

I liked how Miranda and the other teens had the courage to fight back despite the danger they faced. However, they all needed more character development as they were rather flat and stereotypical.

Considering that the novel is about a mass shooting in a shopping mall, it was very realistic and action packed, making it a gripping novel for teens. ( )

An engaging read for reluctant readers. ( )