In fact, she's already been doing some dangerous missions, Meda's problem is that she doesn't think about what she does or the repercussions that come from those actions. That ability gets her hauled in from the Agency, to use as they see fit, and they don't have good intentions. Meda is different than other teenagers her age, she's a mimic and can make herself look like anyone she chooses. In doing so, she becomes a legitimate heroine. In the end Meda is able to grow beyond her limited experience of the world and unleash her suppressed emotions. That all changes in a hurry when she is kidnapped by three teenaged boys who are members of the Opposition. Understandably then, her assessments are often a bit shallow and sometimes seem unfeeling. Since she has been kept sheltered from the world, she is naive to the feelings and experiences of a normal 17 year old. She does whatever she is told and waits in isolation for her next assignment. Meda has lived a sheltered life-essentially as a prisoner of The Agency that keeps her locked up until she is needed to impersonate a political figure to advance the Agency's evil plot to take over the US Government. That can lead to a sense that she is merely objectively reporting what she sees, but narration is enhanced as she discovers a reality she never understood. A first person narrator is often suspect, and we can't expect Meda to accurately interpret what happens as narrates the tale. The story is told through the eyes of Meda, a 17-year-old girl who has inherited the ability to shape shift at will, called a Mimic. Mixing all those genres isn't an easy task, but Hagmann pulls it off seemlessly. Christina Hagmann's debut novel, Stratagem, combines YA, magical realism, mystery and thriller in an action packed ride that starts on the first page and never lets up until the very end.

Stratagem by Christina Hagmann