A textured high school rom-com that serves up a lot of heart.
After being assigned the volleyball beat, an aspiring journalist must confront her history with the team captain.
Jordan Elliot, a white-coded lesbian high school junior who self-identifies as fat, takes her work on the school paper very seriously, even when she doesn’t get the editorship she wanted. Being forced to spend time with the former friend who betrayed her—Mackenzie West, with her “summer-tanned skin and blonde hair that fell down her back in perfect waves”—is harder to swallow. But with her friends’ support, Jordan commits to writing the best articles she can about both the volleyball team and Mack. As she and Mack hang out, talking through how and why Mack hurt her, Jordan’s romantic feelings are revived. If they’re going to truly move on, though, Jordan must first confront her fear of rejection. The characters display an intriguing balance of endearing qualities and flaws that together add to the emotional impact of their choices. Jordan’s genuine love for her friends and their hilarious banter further flesh out their world, making the non-romantic sections as enjoyable as the flirting and heart-to-hearts that Jordan and Mack share. Queer characters both exist casually and get to have their unique experiences highlighted, and Jordan’s existence as a fat person is explored in ways that inform her personality and highlight her insecurities without becoming the entirety of who she is.
A textured high school rom-com that serves up a lot of heart. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780063243385
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A worthy second-chance romance.
In this follow-up to 2021’s Better Than the Movies, a 20-year-old college freshman gets a second chance at his dreams.
After the death of his father and his mother’s subsequent physical and emotional disappearance, Wes Bennett left behind all of his plans and the girl he made them with to go home and take care of Sarah, his younger sister. But now, Sarah has graduated, his mom is back on her feet, and by some miracle, Wes has an offer to pitch for UCLA’s baseball team. Liz Buxbaum, the girl he’s always loved, works for the university’s athletic department, taking photos and video of the team for social media, which means that maybe he can have a second chance at love, too. But since Wes left, Liz has made every effort to protect herself from ever feeling that broken again; there’s no room for love, because she doesn’t believe in it anymore. Or she doesn’t want to. This second-chance sports romance includes fake dates, quippy and quirky best friends, real heartache, and the sweet ache of first love. The clever dialogue keeps readers from drowning in the main characters’ emotional push-and-pull. Reading the first novel isn’t necessary for appreciating this one, although knowing the full history between Wes and Liz will only add to the ache and longing readers feel from and for them. Main characters are cued white.
A worthy second-chance romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665947138
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
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
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