Like a good roller-coaster ride: adrenaline-fueled and terrifying with an underlying feeling that everything will end as it...
Anna Boyd finally has her name—and her life—back, and she won’t give either up without a fight.
In this follow-up to The Rules for Disappearing (2013), Anna, so thankful to have left the world of witness protection behind, is shocked to learn that she is still being hunted by Thomas, the villain who masqueraded as a federal agent and who inexplicably allowed her and her boyfriend, Ethan, to escape when he might easily have killed them. Before she knows what hit her, Anna, her family and Ethan’s are sent off to hide in a remote wilderness area from which she, Ethan, and her little sister, Teeny, are ultimately kidnapped. The trio is whisked away to a secret location where they learn that they have become pawns in a deadly game of chess being played by assassins, organized crime lords and rogue agents. The implausible but still engaging storyline is jam-packed with impulsive decisions that carry foreseeable disastrous consequences, unexpected betrayals and alliances, and a series of skin-of-the-teeth escapes. Amid the chaos, Anna’s head-over-heels infatuation with Ethan and sweet devotion to Teeny will give readers something familiar they can hold on to.
Like a good roller-coaster ride: adrenaline-fueled and terrifying with an underlying feeling that everything will end as it should. (Suspense. 12-18)Pub Date: May 20, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-6898-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
A great read offering entertainment, encouragement, and plenty to reflect upon.
A gay teen contends with time travel—and homophobia through the decades.
All Cuban American Luis wants is to be prom king with his boyfriend, but tiny upstate New York boarding school Antic Springs Academy, with its strict, Christian code of conduct, won’t even let them hold hands in public. After a disastrous prom committee meeting at which his attempt to make the event welcoming of queer couples is rejected by the principal, Luis gets quite literally knocked into the past—specifically, ASA in the year 1985. There he meets Chaz, a Black student who attended the school at the same time as Luis’ parents and who died under mysterious circumstances after being bullied for his sexuality. Luis now faces a choice between changing the past to help Chaz and preserving his own future existence. Fortunately, he has Ms. Silverthorn, a Black English teacher and beloved mentor, who offers him support in both timelines. The narrative explores the impacts of homophobia and being closeted, remaining optimistic without shying away from the more brutal aspects. Luis is a multifaceted character with an engaging voice whose flaws are confronted and examined throughout. The solid pacing and pleasant, fluid prose make this a page-turner. Luis’ boyfriend is cued as Chinese American, and his best friend is nonbinary; there is some diversity in ethnicity and sexuality in background characters, although the school is predominantly White.
A great read offering entertainment, encouragement, and plenty to reflect upon. (author's note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0710-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Heartbreaking, historical, and a little bit hopeful.
January 1945: as Russians advance through East Prussia, four teens’ lives converge in hopes of escape.
Returning to the successful formula of her highly lauded debut, Between Shades of Gray (2011), Sepetys combines research (described in extensive backmatter) with well-crafted fiction to bring to life another little-known story: the sinking (from Soviet torpedoes) of the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff. Told in four alternating voices—Lithuanian nurse Joana, Polish Emilia, Prussian forger Florian, and German soldier Alfred—with often contemporary cadences, this stints on neither history nor fiction. The three sympathetic refugees and their motley companions (especially an orphaned boy and an elderly shoemaker) make it clear that while the Gustloff was a German ship full of German civilians and soldiers during World War II, its sinking was still a tragedy. Only Alfred, stationed on the Gustloff, lacks sympathy; almost a caricature, he is self-delusional, unlikable, a Hitler worshiper. As a vehicle for exposition, however, and a reminder of Germany’s role in the war, he serves an invaluable purpose that almost makes up for the mustache-twirling quality of his petty villainy. The inevitability of the ending (including the loss of several characters) doesn’t change its poignancy, and the short chapters and slowly revealed back stories for each character guarantee the pages keep turning.
Heartbreaking, historical, and a little bit hopeful. (author’s note, research and sources, maps) (Historical fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-16030-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
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