Part of a fairly large series of books for older primary school readers, this looks at the knife-edge world of the negotiator. It could be a plane full of hostages that need to be let go, or someone on a car park roof, or a couple undergoing the world's worst domestic each with a gun on the other – anything could happen, and the fragile status of the psychology of all involved in such a dramatic time must be considered. The negotiator must remember all the details they can learn, befriend yet remain with status over the people of concern, and so much more. I'd not do it for love nor money, but this is a very efficient, fully pictorial guide to their work. Don't file it under "easy" in the careers library, though. A strong four stars.

In recent years, I've been seeing an increasing number of nonfiction kids' books about lesser-known or understudied career options. I like the idea of exposing children to careers that they might not have considered before, or that they may have seen in the media, including the news. Whenever new acquisitions like these would arrive at the branch, I'd place them aside to feature in my themed displays. This entry in a new series about fast-paced careers is a thorough, well-structured book that takes one such career and makes it accessible for young readers. Using a combination of events from the immediate past, the book demonstrates the necessary and complicated, yet fulfilling, role that crisis negotiators play in helping to keep others safe and helping the community. The book's tone remains honest about the potential risks of becoming a crisis negotiator, and doesn't shy away from talking about how it can be stressful. But the facts are presented evenly, which allows young readers t make their own decisions about whether this job (and by extension, the others in the series) is something they'd like to pursue.

The author does a good job of including pertinent information about all aspects of crisis negotiators and their work in a relatively small volume. One of the big draws of this book is the way in which it talks about the soft and SEL skills that are necessary for the role in addition to the physical and academic training. The passages about the importance of gaining others' trust and making sure that those in danger are secure, as well as trying to understand potential motivations behind hostage situations, are good additions which show how all of these different skills must come together to make for an effective resolution, one where everyone comes out safely. I also liked the way that the book, while acknowledging that some hostage takers may suffer from mental illness, does not automatically class them as such, or use mental illness as the source of the issues. The source materials at the book's end are well-developed, with a mixture of closed and open-ended questions that can lead to fruitful discussions.

For future, if possible, I would like to see the reference materials at the end expanded, with the inclusion of possible documentaries and/or potential films that children could watch, even if they are short informational videos. I realize that in this case, most films about crisis negotiators might not fit with the intended audience. But it would be nice to have some more interactive material to help children explore these careers further.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Flux (Apex) for this DRC in exchange for a fair and honest review. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

Awesome book! It's definitely not every day that you see a kids' book about a topic that people probably don't think about a lot: crisis negotiators. I really want to applaud the author for going a bit out of the norm and writing a kids' book about a truly interesting and important topic. Additionally, I thought the author did a fantastic job of explaining the material to a younger audience. The sentences were short, simple, and to-the-point, and the book was designed visually in such a way that captured the reader's attention and held it, which is impressive! Yet another great thing about this book was how many angles the author tackled this topic from. In other words, every aspect of a crisis negotiator's job was explained in perfect detail and was easy to understand. Bravo!