Charming and realistic look at the fast but meaningful friendships formed at cons.
A fanfic writer, a taxidermist, and a percussionist attending three different conferences at the same convention center befriend and help one another.
Callie Buchannan is in Orlando to assist her father at their first World Taxidermy Championships without her mother, who left the family and moved across the country to “start over.” She wishes her intense, perfectionist dad would treat her less like an unpaid intern and more like a daughter. Phoebe Byrd’s at the same conference center to compete with her high school band ensemble in the annual Indoor Percussion Association Convention. After a disastrous luggage mix-up forces Phoebe to play the xylophone with taxidermy scalpels, she injures her hands, has a disappointing competition, and hooks up with her smirky-but-sweet band mate. And Vanessa “Nessie” Montoya-O’Callaghan is at her first We Treasure Fandom con to finally meet her co-writer and internet girlfriend, Soleil, face to face. But older, polyamorous, pansexual Soleil seems more interested in meeting attentive fans than being alone with Nessie. After slightly formulaic meet-cutes, Callie, Phoebe (who are both white), and Vanessa (who’s half Mexican, half Irish) become instant friends and swap stories. Not only does this three-author, three-protagonist contemporary easily pass the Bechdel test, but it also explores fascinating subcultures and highlights how young people with diverse identities, backgrounds, and interests can bond in an authentic manner.
Charming and realistic look at the fast but meaningful friendships formed at cons. (Fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-15172-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Point/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
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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