High-school sophomore Rachel Lowenstein is, like most teenaged girls, preoccupied with boys, self-confidence, popularity and a positive identity that may not necessarily include her Jewish roots. Wishing to break from her overprotective parents, Rachel vows to follow her own version of the “Teen Commandments.” They include, “Your parents may think they are your Lord, but your peers are your God. Thou shalt follow their will.” It’s a continuously self-reflective, sometimes funny, sometimes deprecating, almost always cynical account of her daily struggle to outwit her parents and find acceptance among peers (who behave outside her Jewish norms) while fulfilling her own desires. Moreover, Rachel discovers the importance of good values despite religious faith, while trying to date her newfound gentile boyfriend. Schorr’s perspective of a Jewish teen’s pressures, which include drinking, the pitfalls of the Internet and self-destructive behavior, are realistically portrayed from her Holocaust-surviving Bubbe to her eagerly excited parents, who are tricked into assuming she is dating the Jewish boy next door. Rachel’s narrative is droll and sharp with scenes that are comical, troubling and poignantly sincere. Well-written chick-lit with a Jewish slant. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7868-3852-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
Sun-loving Bella meets her demon lover in a vampire tale strongly reminiscent of Robin McKinley’s Sunshine. When Bella moves to rainy Forks, Wash., to live with her father, she just wants to fit in without drawing any attention. Unfortunately, she’s drawn the eye of aloof, gorgeous and wealthy classmate Edward. His behavior toward Bella wavers wildly between apparent distaste and seductive flirtation. Bella learns Edward’s appalling (and appealing) secret: He and his family are vampires. Though Edward nobly warns Bella away, she ignores the human boys who court her and chooses her vampiric suitor. An all-vampire baseball game in a late-night thunderstorm—an amusing gothic take on American family togetherness that balances some of the tale’s romantic excesses—draws Bella and her loved ones into terrible danger. This is far from perfect: Edward’s portrayal as monstrous tragic hero is overly Byronic, and Bella’s appeal is based on magic rather than character. Nonetheless, the portrayal of dangerous lovers hits the spot; fans of dark romance will find it hard to resist. (Fantasy. YA)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-316-16017-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2005
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution.
A teenage girl finds herself alone after everyone else in her town mysteriously disappears, leaving her scrambling to figure out how to find them all.
One late summer day, everybody in July Fielding’s town disappears. She is left to piece together what happened, following a series of cryptic signs she finds around town urging her to “GET THEM BACK.” The narrative moves back and forth between July’s present and the events of the summer before, when her relationship with her best friend, cross-country team co-captain Sydney, starts to fracture due to a combination of jealousy over July’s new relationship with a cute boy called Sam and sweet up-and-coming freshman Ella’s threatening to overtake Syd’s status as star of the track team. The team members participate in a ritual in which they jump off a cliff into the rocky waters below at the end of their Friday practice runs. Though Ella is reluctant, Syd pressures her to jump. Short, frenetically paced sections move the story along quickly, and there is much foreshadowing pointing to something terrible that occurred at the end of that summer, which may be the key to July’s current predicament, but there is much misdirection too. Ultimately this is a story without enough setup to make the turn the book takes in the end feel fully developed or earned. All characters read white.
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780593327173
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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