A thought-provoking novel about the high cost of fitting in.
Nigerian cousins reckon in very different ways with life at their predominantly white English private school.
Iyanu Da Silva is a budding photographer and day student at Wodebury Hall. While her cousin Kitan Ladipo is a boarder there, the two Black girls occupy different social strata. Kitan is best friends with two popular white girls, but this acceptance comes at a personal price. Iyanu recently traveled to London for the Black Girls Winter Fair, where she met her favorite writer, and she hopes to write about the experience in her application for a photojournalist position at an online magazine founded by queer women of color. Despite her outsider status, Iyanu is chosen to photograph a school matchmaking event. But her photos and negatives from the winter fair and the evening social disappear from the school darkroom—and reappear with nasty rumors and comments attached that disrupt the social order at Wodebury and land Iyanu in the hot seat. Now Iyanu and Quincy, her longtime friend and crush, are trying to discover who is behind the theft and sabotage. Through chapters alternating between the cousins’ first-person perspectives, the book insightfully explores Blackfishing, racism and microaggressions, and biases Black girls face in beauty standards and dating. The central relationship arcs are handled well and will resonate with readers. Teens of many different backgrounds will find elements of their lives reflected in this narrative.
A thought-provoking novel about the high cost of fitting in. (author’s note with content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780063225671
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
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
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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