An utterly self-absorbed British teen scrivens her frustrations with the rest of the world in her slang-filled diary, all the while blissfully ignorant of the real chaos around her. Sound familiar? Janet Bandry is distinguished from Georgia Nicolson by her pretensions toward intellectualism: she and her best friend have decided to celebrate the new year by entering what they call the Dark Phase. What the Dark Phase means to Janet is wearing black, dying her hair purple, listening to jazz, and attempting to read The Outsider (“it was about three thousand pages shorter than Ulysses”). Janet’s family includes her mother, the Mad Cow; her psychiatrist father, Sigmund; her photographer brother, Geek Boy; her lesbian feminist aunt, Sappho; and her Bible-thumping ex-spy Nan, all of whom represent tedious obstacles to Janet’s pursuit of passion, in the person of the dashing vegetarian Elvin. In Sheldon’s (Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, 1999, etc.) hands, Janet’s general numbness results in some truly hilarious passages, but it also can be painful to witness. What the reader knows long before Janet is that her parents’ marriage is on the rocks: “Came home to find the female parent IN MY ROOM! She was lying on my bed! I was highly indignant, I can tell you. Not only was this a MAJOR breach of my privacy, but her eyes were all red and she was sniffling like she was coming down with something. She’d better not be infecting me with her germs.” The constant irony between Janet’s unbelievably obtuse reportage and the actual events readers discern below the surface sounds a one-note chorus that wears thin. Janet worries to her diary “about becoming as shallow and pointless as the rest of [her] family.” While this offering provides undeniable chuckles (aided by discriminating use of typefaces for emphasis), one is left wondering whether it is itself rather shallow and pointless. But it will certainly find an audience. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7636-2048-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2003
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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