Entertaining, edgier ramp-up of a sweet heroine’s transition into adulthood.
Hetty, now 17, struggles with her promise to rally around the marriage of Morgan Morganthal in the second installment of a 1950s-set YA trilogy.
During a party in the home of schoolmate Melinda Morganthal, Hetty Lawrence, 17, is mortified to overhear glamorous Katrinka Wallace chatter about her intent to marry Melinda’s older brother, Morgan. Hetty also accidentally spills food onto Katrinka, although Morgan, as always, is kind. Hetty later muses on this new development to “Hannah,” the forest oak that serves as this dreamy girl’s refuge. Morgan comes to the tree to return a schoolbook, and the couple is clearly entranced with each other, even if they don’t outwardly express it. The crossed signals continue as Hetty blurts out support of the marriage and even offers to plan a premarriage event. She gets Melinda’s moody father, Max, who runs the circus where he met Katrinka’s former clown father, to attend a father-daughter dance and become closer to Morgan while she helps care for a mistreated elephant. Hetty also guides her biological father (revealed in the first installment) to navigate his romance, only admitting her true feelings during a fateful meeting at Hannah, sparking a final chain of events and an exciting new path. West (Hetty, 2013, etc.) expands into more mature elements, including mention of Max’s AA meetings and Hetty’s growing longings, in these follow-up adventures. The new activities are engrossing, although this novel’s illustrations of a childlike Hetty now seem out of sync. West notes that this tale picks up Hetty’s life in 1955, yet the setting remains rather unreal and misty, with its fairy-tale environs now including a circus. Still, Hetty’s world is quite charming, as is the central love story, with this book, like West’s last, mirroring the realm of Anne of Green Gables. Best of all, West hints that Katrinka, the full-size daughter of a dwarf and a marvelously maneuvering yet sympathetic character, returns in a third book. Overall, an enjoyable continuation.
Entertaining, edgier ramp-up of a sweet heroine’s transition into adulthood.Pub Date: June 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9908693-4-4
Page Count: 196
Publisher: Park Place Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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