Publishers Weekly
This brief but razor-sharp novel from Woolston (Catch & Release) is as unpredictable as the bomb strapped to the chest of the girl at its center, 15-year-old Valkyrie White. Raised in isolation in remote Montana, Valkyrie was four years old when her mother was killed tending the garden after black helicopters passed overhead. She and her brother are brought up by their father, who believes in being a free and free-thinking person, and who is happy to deliver violent messages for a price, such as targeting an “activist” judge. It’s a path that, following more tragedies, finds Valkyrie dressed as an ordinary girl, an explosive hidden beneath her hoodie, riding in a U-Haul truck headed out into the world. Valkyrie makes every word count in her narration, which makes sense coming from a girl who grew up with such rules as “Never waste an opportunity to conserve resources.” The ambiguities and of-the-moment realism of Woolston’s story muddy the lines between right and wrong, while giving provocative insight into the mindset of those who see modern government as an unnecessary evil. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary Agency. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
This brief but razor-sharp novel from Woolston (Catch & Release) is as unpredictable as the bomb strapped to the chest of the girl at its center, 15-year-old Valkyrie White...The ambiguities and of-the-moment realism of Woolston’s story muddy the lines between right and wrong, while giving provocative insight into the mindset of those who see modern government as an unnecessary evil.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A chilling exploration of the life, motivations and strategies of a young American suicide bomber...Harrowing and unforgettable.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Woolston further sharpens her pen with a short novel that is daring on multiple fronts.
—Booklist
[R]eaders ... will find the complex structure and literary style intriguing enough to bring them back for a reread.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
This is a fast-paced story that builds suspense till the abrupt ending that will leave readers guessing whether or not Valley succeeded. This is a good book to recommend to teens who enjoy reading about the strange underbelly of society.
—School Library Journal
This title will touch, thrill, and then leave readers with much to ponder.
—Library Media Connection
BLACK HELICOPTERS is that quite remarkable event: a pace-perfect, pitch-perfect thriller that is exquisitely written and deeply thought provoking.
—Tim Wynne-Jones, author of Blink & Caution, a Boston Globe—Horn Book Award winner
This novel wrapped its icy hand around my heart and dragged me in. Admirably restrained, peculiarly fluent, and scary as hell, I read BLACK HELICOPTERS straight through and immediately told everybody I knew about it.
—Ron Koertge, author of Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses
The tension doesn't let up for a minute in this startling, terrifying story. It pulls you along like a rampaging river, then sucks you under.
—Ellen Wittlinger, author of Hard Love, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book
Blythe Woolston is a master of the unexpected. In BLACK HELICOPTERS, Woolston has given us part gripping literary mystery and part heart-racing psychological thriller. Suspenseful, dark and touching this is another winner from Woolston.
—A.S. King, author of Everybody Sees the Ants and Please Ignore Vera Dietz, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book
When I look back at 2013 and ask myself which book I still think about the most, the answer is Blythe Woolston's Black Helicopters. Woolston creates a most uncomfortable atmosphere in the disturbing life of Valkyrie White. The writing is fantastic and the story decodes as a deep, humanist view of a homegrown terrorist in modern day America. I read it twice in one day and I never do that.
—A.S. King, author of "Ask the Passengers" and "Reality Boy"
School Library Journal - Audio
09/01/2013
Gr 9 Up—In the nine years since 15-year-old Valkyrie's mother was killed while picking beans from their garden, she and her brother Bo have been forced to hide in an underground room when their Da is gone. Da is a survivalist who makes bombs to subvert government activities, and he teaches Valley and Bo all he knows. Valley and her family are convinced that the government is killing its citizens and want to alert the rest of the country. When Bo and Valley return from a day of training, they find their home burning and their father missing and presumed dead. They put his plan into action, and eventually gather with other survivalists in a terrorist camp whose members base their faith on Norse mythology. Valley designs a plan where she will be a suicide bomber, and even when it goes awry, she's still determined to complete her mission. Befriending a teenage boy and his little brother, Valley creates a hostage situation with terrifying consequences for the boys. Valkyrie is a complex character—childlike and kind at times, yet brutally ruthless in the next moment. Kate Rudd does a great job narrating the book in the first person. She perfectly portrays Valley's stoic commitment to her goals at all costs. The book is bleak, depressing, and some parts are horrific to listen to. Teens will love it.—Julie Paladino, East Chapel Hill High School, NC
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up—Valley and Bo's orders from their father were very clear: if they hear or see a helicopter, they are to run and hide. The rest of the country does not believe that the government is killing American citizens, but Valley and her family do. That's why her father came up with a plan to wake up the rest of the country. But something went wrong, and the black helicopters killed him. The story is told in alternating chapters from when they were with their father, then on their own, and, finally, living with a group of young terrorists who base their faith on Norse mythology. The richness of this book lies within the characters Valley and Bo meet across the Montana landscape, such as a group of young girls smuggled into Canada after being impregnated, and Eric, the teen whom Valley takes hostage to complete her final mission. Valley is smart and committed although misguided. This is a fast-paced story that builds suspense till the abrupt ending that will leave readers guessing whether or not Valley succeeded. This is a good book to recommend to teens who enjoy reading about the strange underbelly of society.—Erik Carlson, White Plains Public Library, NY
MARCH 2014 - AudioFile
With a stiff speech pattern and a flat affect to her voice, narrator Kate Rudd draws listeners into this chilling story of teens and terrorism. Valley and her older brother, Bo, have been taught to distrust conventional society, especially the government, which they believe is responsible for the death of their mother. When their father goes missing, Valley and Bo join others who are living off the grid and plotting ways to bring the world to its knees. Rudd’s stark delivery perfectly captures Valley’s twisted worldview and makes the teen’s gruesome determination to have an impact shocking. Rudd clearly navigates the alternating time sequences, making this terrifying story seem all too believable. S.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
A chilling exploration of the life, motivations and strategies of a young American suicide bomber. Valkyrie (née Valley) White is on a mission to wake up everyone. Her statement of purpose recorded and media-ready, she departs the survivalist camp where she and her brother Bo live, but when her driver detonates their truck bomb too early, Valkyrie sets off on her own to complete the mission. Through brief chapters alternating between the past and present, readers learn about Valley and Bo's childhood in Montana's backwoods, where their Da trained them to be self-sufficient and deeply wary of the world outside their land. After Valley and Bo's mother, Mabby, dies in what they believe was a black-helicopter attack authorized by Those People in the government, Da insists that the children learn paramilitary and bomb-building skills along with chess and how to read. In the present, Valkyrie uses Da's lessons to manipulate a teenage boy into driving to an opportune place for her to detonate her vest. Woolston's slow, tense revelation of the full horror of what the adults in Valkyrie's life have wrought in and through her is breathtaking. Readers who may have previously associated suicide bombers with religious fanaticism will be fascinated by Valkyrie's totally secular but equally single-minded devotion to anti-government rhetoric and revenge. Harrowing and unforgettable. (Fiction. 14-18)
