Ten years (or more) ago this might have been an important book; but even with its positive close, today it is an...
Texas high school senior and quarterback David has a secret no one can discover.
Forced by his English teacher to keep a journal in which he writes for 10 minutes, three times a week, David chronicles his innermost secret: his attraction to men. Over the course of a semester, he falls for Jon, the new kid from Chicago, who’s a great singer and star of the swim team. He also writes of his relationship with Monica, his cheerleader girlfriend, who has a cool gay uncle who was also a football star. But most painful are his crumbling relationships with his beer-loving, homophobic father and his clingy (though straight) best friend, Tyler, who was up for QB until he was injured. Can David navigate this minefield and hang on to his scholarship offer from USC? Straining the conceit of the journal from the outset, this ill-conceived title “in the tradition of Go Ask Alice” equates being gay with being an alcoholic, a drug addict and an anorexic in its packaging alone. When gay teens need an example of pride, an “Anonymous” byline is a giant leap backward; and with a penultimate paragraph concluding “I feel like I don’t have anything to hide,” that “Anonymous” is ironic to a fault.
Ten years (or more) ago this might have been an important book; but even with its positive close, today it is an embarrassment. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: June 3, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8986-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2014
An emotionally engaging closer that fumbles in its final moments.
Lara Jean prepares for college and a wedding.
Korean-American Lara Jean is finally settled into a nice, complication-free relationship with her white boyfriend, Peter. But things don’t stay simple for long. When college acceptance letters roll in, Peter and Lara Jean discover they’re heading in different directions. As the two discuss the long-distance thing, Lara Jean’s widower father is making a major commitment: marrying the neighbor lady he’s been dating. The whirlwind of a wedding, college visits, prom, and the last few months of senior year provides an excellent backdrop for this final book about Lara Jean. The characters ping from event to event with emotions always at the forefront. Han further develops her cast, pushing them to new maturity and leaving few stones unturned. There’s only one problem here, and it’s what’s always held this series back from true greatness: Peter. Despite Han’s best efforts to flesh out Peter with abandonment issues and a crummy dad, he remains little more than a handsome jock. Frankly, Lara Jean and Peter may have cute teen chemistry, but Han's nuanced characterizations have often helped to subvert typical teen love-story tropes. This knowing subversion is frustratingly absent from the novel's denouement.
An emotionally engaging closer that fumbles in its final moments. (Romance. 14-17)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3048-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
BOOK REVIEW
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