A lightly philosophical summer romance for any time of year.
Are there infinite realities in which every possible permutation of our choices exists?
It’s the summer between sophomore and junior year, and Summer Everett’s phone rings just as she’s about to board a plane to France. The caller ID says “unknown,” leaving the always-indecisive Summer with a dilemma: should she answer it? Here, the narrative splits into two possible realities. In the first, Summer silences the phone, shoves it into her pocket, and continues on her way to Les Deux Chemins—“The Two Paths”—in Provence, her famous artist father’s vacation home. In the second reality, Summer answers the phone; it’s her father, telling her not to come to France, and consequently, she spends the summer at home in sleepy Hudsonville, New York. Although the settings are vastly different, both Summers find romance (sadly, they both judge their worth by what boys think of them), discover their burgeoning talent for photography, and gather the courage to accept change and stop wondering “What if….” Experienced and observant readers will solve a devastating, long-kept family secret far ahead of Summer's discovery of same. The Provençal location is a refreshing change from the Parisian setting of so many other teen-abroad novels. Many teen readers who have visited France will relate to Summer’s bemusement over hand-held showering, iceless drinking water, and cheek kissing. Summer is white, but her Hudsonville friends are pleasingly diverse.
A lightly philosophical summer romance for any time of year. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: April 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-51807-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Point/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
A smart, timely outing.
Two teens connect through a mysterious podcast in this sophomore effort by British author Oseman (Solitaire, 2015).
Frances Janvier is a 17-year-old British-Ethiopian head girl who is so driven to get into Cambridge that she mostly forgoes friendships for schoolwork. Her only self-indulgence is listening to and creating fan art for the podcast Universe City, “a…show about a suit-wearing student detective looking for a way to escape a sci-fi, monster-infested university.” Aled Last is a quiet white boy who identifies as “partly asexual.” When Frances discovers that Aled is the secret creator of Universe City, the two embark on a passionate, platonic relationship based on their joint love of pop culture. Their bond is complicated by Aled’s controlling mother and by Frances’ previous crush on Aled’s twin sister, Carys, who ran away last year and disappeared. When Aled’s identity is accidently leaked to the Universe City fandom, he severs his relationship with Frances, leaving her questioning her Cambridge goals and determined to win back his affection, no matter what the cost. Frances’ narration is keenly intelligent; she takes mordant pleasure in using an Indian friend’s ID to get into a club despite the fact they look nothing alike: “Gotta love white people.” Though the social-media–suffused plot occasionally lags, the main characters’ realistic relationship accurately depicts current issues of gender, race, and class.
A smart, timely outing. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-233571-5
Page Count: 496
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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