An uneven debut, but Parsons shows real promise with Jason’s characterization.
A down-on-his-luck teen is made an offer he can't refuse.
Jason and his sister, Janie, are stuck with their abusive, alcoholic father in the worst part of town. The pair scrimp and save anything they can and dream of one day having enough cash to strike out on their own. So when high school it boy Michael drives up in his vintage Mustang and offers Jason $50 a day to hang out with him, Jason has little reason to turn him down. The results of this arrangement prove to be less than advantageous. The author weaves a web of lies and deceit around Jason, so much so that readers will barely know whom to trust less, Michael or the enigmatic and impossibly sexy Cyndra. As Jason tries to figure out who's playing what and for whom, readers get a look at a fully formed but terribly damaged individual. Less interesting are most of the other characters, all drawn with broad strokes. This makes the novel a bit repetitive in the middle, when Jason gets into a cycle of brooding, then trusting a bit, and then brooding again once new information comes to light several times over. The novel's ending is also far too "happily ever after" considering all the angst that came before, making for a jarring tonal experience.
An uneven debut, but Parsons shows real promise with Jason’s characterization. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: April 21, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-399-16847-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An eerie thriller reminiscent of summer horror movies that will keep readers on edge.
Two teens with a dark secret return to their old summer camp.
Childhood friends Esme and Kayla can’t wait to return to Camp Pine Lake as counselors-in-training, ready to try everything they couldn’t do when they were younger: find cute boys, stay up late, and sneak out after hours. Even Andy, their straight-laced supervisor, can’t dampen their excitement, especially after they meet the crushworthy Olly and Jake. An intuitive 17-year-old, Esme is ready to jump in and teach her cute little campers. But when a threatening message appears, Esme and Kayla realize the secret they’ve kept hidden for nearly a decade is no longer safe. Paranoia and fear soon cause Esme and Kayla to revisit their ominous secret and realize that nobody in the camp can be trusted. The slow buildup of suspense and the use of classic horror elements contrast with lighthearted camp activities, bonding with new friends, and budding romance. Similarly, Esme’s first-person point of view allows for increased tension and action as well as offering insight into her emotional and mental well-being. Discussions of adulthood, trauma, and recovery are subtle and realistic, but acts of sexism and machismo aren’t fully analyzed. While the strong buildup of action comes late, it leads to a shockingly satisfying finale. Major characters are White.
An eerie thriller reminiscent of summer horror movies that will keep readers on edge. (Thriller. 12-16)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12497-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Dec. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
Though it lacks references or suggestions for further reading, Arn's agonizing story is compelling enough that many readers...
A harrowing tale of survival in the Killing Fields.
The childhood of Arn Chorn-Pond has been captured for young readers before, in Michelle Lord and Shino Arihara's picture book, A Song for Cambodia (2008). McCormick, known for issue-oriented realism, offers a fictionalized retelling of Chorn-Pond's youth for older readers. McCormick's version begins when the Khmer Rouge marches into 11-year-old Arn's Cambodian neighborhood and forces everyone into the country. Arn doesn't understand what the Khmer Rouge stands for; he only knows that over the next several years he and the other children shrink away on a handful of rice a day, while the corpses of adults pile ever higher in the mango grove. Arn does what he must to survive—and, wherever possible, to protect a small pocket of children and adults around him. Arn's chilling history pulls no punches, trusting its readers to cope with the reality of children forced to participate in murder, torture, sexual exploitation and genocide. This gut-wrenching tale is marred only by the author's choice to use broken English for both dialogue and description. Chorn-Pond, in real life, has spoken eloquently (and fluently) on the influence he's gained by learning English; this prose diminishes both his struggle and his story.
Though it lacks references or suggestions for further reading, Arn's agonizing story is compelling enough that many readers will seek out the history themselves. (preface, author's note) (Historical fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-173093-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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