FICTION

Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly

by Conrad WESSELHOEFT
352p. ebook available. Houghton Harcourt. 2014. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780544232693.
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Gr 9 Up—Arlo Santiago, 17, is a lover of all things extreme, from racing his dirt bike through the New Mexican landscape to competing for the highest score on the video game Drone Pilot. However, it may all be just a cover for dealing with the darkness in his life: his mother's death was all-too sudden, his father drinks too much, and his sister is slowly deteriorating from Huntington's disease. In a plot point that borders a bit on the unbelievable, Arlo's life takes a sudden turn when he is recruited by the United States Air Force to fly a real military drone in an effort to catch the leader of a terrorist group hiding in the mountains of Pakistan. On top of that, his talent for dirt bike racing fuels various dangerous stunts throughout the novel. This sophomore effort from Wesselhoeft feels like a combination of poetry and adrenaline, with sometimes mixed, unfocused results. Fortunately, Arlo is a lyrical wordsmith, and at times, readers can feel transported right into his struggle to deal with his emotions. Other times, however, there's so much action that teens will have to hold on desperately for the ride. Still, it makes for a moving story about loss, love, and learning to let go. Give this to fans of similarly amped-up fiction by Chris Lynch and Carl Deuker.—Kimberly Castle-Alberts, Hudson Library & Historical Society, OH
Still reeling from his mother's sudden death, seventeen-year-old Arlo spends his time performing daredevil dirt-bike tricks and excelling at Drone Pilot, a war-simulation video game. When he's contacted by the U.S. government to participate in real-life top-secret drone warfare, Arlo must examine who is he and who he's willing to become. Evocative scene-setting, amusing dialogue, and unique characters enliven this original novel.
Though the protagonist, Arlo, is reckless and irreverent, he quickly gains readers’ admiration with his humility and discipline. He’s flustered by an early-morning call from an air force major, for example, not because he gets congratulated for his virtual drone-flying, but because it interferes with his routine of getting ready in “exactly two minutes and twenty-seven seconds.” The well-developed plot realistically depicts Arlo struggling with conflicting issues, such as whether to take a drone-flying position with the military to pay his sister’s medical expenses, despite identifying as a nonviolent person after his mother’s death. Arlo narrates with biting poignancy. After asking for lunch money, for instance, Arlo observes that his dad “winces, opens his wallet—puffy with poverty—and hands me three faded ones.” The rural New Mexico setting is ever present. When Specialist Mullins drives Arlo to the White Sands Missile Range for a drone-flying test, he points out the Organ Mountains and says, “Man, you gotta see them at sunset—they look like bloody knives.” Arlo’s tendency toward daredevil stunts and white-knuckle maneuvers—including when he attempts a huge dirt-bike jump at his school’s homecoming game to save his reputation—will appeal to adrenaline junkies.

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