[QCrit] YA Contemporary (Heist) - Frame & Faro (86K/Attempt 1)

Hi all! First time Reddit post ever! I've queried this before two years ago, got three full requests (out of 37 queries sent), but ultimately got rejected and received some very kind feedback from an agent that the manuscript wasn't ready. After MULTIPLE revisions, I'm ready to query again and need help with the query letter. Thank you in advance!

FRAME & FARO is a contemporary YA novel that combines the high-stakes heists of THIEVES' GAMBIT with the found family/ ragtag crew of SIX OF CROWS. It is complete at 86,000 words and is the first in a duology. 

17-year-old Indi Wilde is used to starting over, but she’s never had to do it alone. When her brother, Eli, goes missing, she’ll do anything to find him, e.g., break into a police station in the middle of the night, lie her way into a new foster home in DC, and follow his cryptic clues on a series of art heists. She’ll even—against her better judgment—team up with Persi, her nosy, pickpocketing classmate.

Persi Collier has her life all planned out. After her mom gets out of prison, they’ll become a mother-daughter thieving duo and join Frame & Faro, a secret criminal organization. But when her mom arrives with a newfound set of morals and—worse—a slew of restrictive rules, Persi needs a plan B. After discovering Indi has connections with Frame & Faro, Persi realizes her mysterious new classmate might be her ticket out of her old life.

Hot on Eli’s heels, Indi and Persi con a group of their classmates (a speedracing MMA fighter, a tech wizard, Persi’s smooth-talking cousin, and a self-righteous trust fund kid) into helping them steal a statue from a local museum that they hope will finally lead Indi to her brother. As the lies pile up and their fake team starts to feel more like real friends, Indi and Persi have to decide how many bridges they’re willing to burn in order to get what they want.