An eerie, intriguing premise and fast-moving plot hampered by clichéd characters and a flat resolution.
Lark’s boyfriend, Alec, is injured trying to rescue Annabelle, the 4-year-old Lark used to babysit, and both are drowning; when she’s unable to choose whom to save, Lark’s world splits in two.
Seventeen-year-old Lark and her father still miss her mother, who died from cancer three years ago. Lark’s close cohort of friends include musicians in the band she plays in and writes songs for. For the Lark who chose to save Alec, their relationship quickly becomes all-consuming. She brushes off her friend Lucy and the band to free climb buildings, longboard, and canoodle with Alec. The adrenaline rush helps her cope with little Annabelle’s hospitalization. Visiting Annabelle, now comatose, propels Lark into her alternative self and a world where Alec lies comatose and Annabelle thrives. Here, Lark maintains her friendships and progresses as a songwriter, while her growing shoplifting habit reflects her anxiety about Alec’s dire prognosis. In both worlds, mysterious cellphone messages and videos nudge Lark toward solving the riddle, but time is running out for Alec, whose parents plan to end life support soon. Pedestrian characters reflecting overfamiliar YA stereotypes, Lark especially, weigh down a suspenseful narrative that’s timidly executed just when it needs to take flight. All characters are white except band member Reid, the son of Iraqi refugees.
An eerie, intriguing premise and fast-moving plot hampered by clichéd characters and a flat resolution. (Paranormal romance. 14-17)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0037-0
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
Full of drama, emotional turmoil, and high stakes.
What happens to the world after the dust from a revolution has settled?
Friends Annie and Lee were children from very different circles when Atreus killed Lee’s father, dragonlord Leon Stormscourge, ending the uprising on the bloodiest day in Callipolis’ history. For too long the dragonriders held all the power while their people starved and lived in fear. Nine years later, a new generation of dragonriders is emerging, children selected and trained on merit, not bloodlines. Their dragons are finally mature enough for them to compete for Firstrider, a position of power that can give Lee back a small part of what his family lost. However, not only is Lee competing against Annie, but rumors are circulating that some of the royal family have survived and have dragons of their own. Everyone will have to make a choice: Restore the old regime, support the First Protector and the new caste system he created, or look for a new way, no matter what the cost. From the beginning, this book pulls readers in with political intrigue and action. What keeps them invested, however, are the complex relationships between many cast members. Choices are complex, and the consequences for all could be deadly. The world is well fleshed out and believable. Annie and Lee are light skinned; secondary characters are diverse, and race is a nonissue in this world.
Full of drama, emotional turmoil, and high stakes. (author’s note) (Fantasy.14-17)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-51821-1
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Several yards short of a touchdown.
A transgender boy starting over at a new school falls hard for a popular cheerleader with a reputation to protect in this debut.
On the first day of senior year, transgender boy Pony locks eyes with cisgender cheerleader Georgia. They both have pasts they want to leave behind. No one at Hillcrest High knows that Pony is transgender, and he intends to keep it that way. Georgia’s last boyfriend shook her trust in boys, and now she’s determined to forget him. As mutual attraction draws them together, Pony and Georgia must decide what they are willing to risk for a relationship. Pony’s best friend, Max, who is also transgender, disapproves of Pony’s choice to live stealth; this disagreement leads to serious conflict in their relationship. Meanwhile, Georgia and Pony behave as if Pony’s trans identity was a secret he was lying to her about rather than private information for him to share of his own volition. The characters only arrive at a hopeful resolution after Pony pays high physical and emotional prices. McSmith places repeated emphasis on the born-in-the-wrong-body narrative when the characters discuss trans identities. Whiteness is situated as the norm, and all main characters are white.
Several yards short of a touchdown. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-294317-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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